


Lean on me

by sonicthehedgehoglover2



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Adorabat is cute and confused, Badgerclops is trying to be responsible, Blood and Injury, But he has the group's one brain cell, Hugs, Mao Mao is secretive, Mao Mao needs a hug, Movie Night, Stubborn cats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21607114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonicthehedgehoglover2/pseuds/sonicthehedgehoglover2
Summary: Badgerclops sighed, his usual endless patience already wearing thin. "Mao, just let me-""I said, I'm fine." Mao Mao insisted."Dude, you can't walk on that." Badgerclops pushed. He honestly didn't understand why he didn't just pick the cat up, already. Maybe, because he was tired. Or, maybe because he knew how much Mao Mao would struggle against him, and, in turn, just make everything worse.Mao Mao's glared deepened, the feline offended by Badgerclops' lack of trust in his current capabilities. "Watch me."Badgerclops opened his mouth - most likely to protest at Mao's usual stubbornness of not letting others help him - only to close it back. He had a distinct feeling that no matter what he said, it would only fall on deaf ears; truthfully, there was no reasoning with Mao Mao when he got this way. The only thing Badgerclops could do was just step back and let Mao Mao decide for himself when too much was too much. Badgerclops found that it had always just been easier to let Mao Mao decide when he wanted to ask for help.
Comments: 38
Kudos: 179





	1. Stubborn cats and a battle gone wrong

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first Mao Mao story, so I apologize if the characters are a little OOC. I hope you guys enjoy and leave behind some comments!
> 
> Also, check my cousin and I's Tumblr page: maomaosrealfamily
> 
> There's not much there, yet. But, it's a start.

Badgerclops quietly brought the aerocycle to a stop in their garage, the small wheels screeching softly against the floorboards. His large clawed hands lightly trembled as he reached up and eagerly peeled his suffocating helmet from his head. The moment it was off, Badgerclops immediately exhaled through his mouth, his breath appearing before him in a thin cloud, and he used one of his hands to wipe away the sweat that had acclimated on his brow.

"We're home," he announced, placing his signature helmet under his armpit.

Behind him, Badgerclops vaguely heard a grumble that sounded along the lines of "I could've driven us home just fine," before he felt the bike shift underneath him. Badgerclops simply rolled his eye, purposely choosing to ignore the comment rather than start a never-ending argument that would just use up the last of his remaining energy. Instead, he rose from his temporary position at the front of the bike, swinging his leg over the side of the bike and springing to his feet. As soon as he was standing, he twisted his head around to silently study his other two passengers.

A dark shape fluttered around in the dim light of their garage, hovering just a few feet off the ground, and he could just barely make out the blue outline of the shape. It was their little deputy, Adorabat, who seemed to be nervously flapping in the air beside their other passenger, a look of concern plastered on her young features. She somehow managed to sense that Badgerclops was staring at her because her large, innocent eyes immediately honed into his; the large black orbs were filled to the brim with uncertainty for their current situation, and Badgerclops could've sworn that those wide eyes were silently asking 'what should we do now?'. Badgerclops simply gave her a small smile - which he hoped would be enough to calm her nerves - and changed his attention to the third member of their small team, who seemed entirely too quiet at the moment.

The local sheriff of Pure Heart Valley, Mao Mao, was currently struggling to get off the bike, his gloved hands digging into the dark brown leather of the seat beneath him. Both Badgerclops and Adorabat were silent, their eyes focused primarily on watching as the black feline slowly swung his leg over, and slid to the ground. Mao Mao hissed when his feet touched down, a hand shooting out to clutch the side of the bike for support. Badgerclops instinctively moved forward to support him, only to pause mid-step when Mao Mao glared hotly at him.

Badgerclops frowned at him. "Dude, seriously? You're hurt."

"I'm fine," Mao Mao growled, his eyes narrowing. And, just to prove his point, Mao Mao released his tight grip on the handlebars of the bike and forced himself to stand up straighter on his own two feet. He then quickly closed his cloak-like cape around his small body, effectively hiding from the neck down from their wandering eyes.

Well, _almost_.

Just before Mao Mao had covered himself, Badgerclops had just managed a glimpse of Mao Mao's left leg. Despite how short the glimpse was, he was more than able to see how big the injury was; a long vertical cut started from somewhere beside Mao's red knee pads and continued down near his ankle. Due to his current distance away from Mao Mao, Badgerclops was uncertain on exactly how deep the cut was, but he could easily see that the injury was still bleeding copious amounts of blood; there was already a small pool of the red liquid gathering around Mao Mao's left foot, and staining the floorboards beneath him.

Badgerclops sighed, his usual endless patience already wearing thin. "Mao, just let me-"

"I said, _I'm fine_." Mao Mao insisted.

"Dude, you can't walk on that." Badgerclops pushed. He honestly didn't understand why he didn't just pick the cat up, already. Maybe, because he was tired. Or, maybe because he knew how much Mao Mao would struggle against him, and, in turn, just make everything worse.

Mao Mao's glared deepened, the feline offended by Badgerclops' lack of trust in his current capabilities. " _Watch me_."

Badgerclops opened his mouth - most likely to protest at Mao's usual stubbornness of not letting others help him - only to close it back. He had a distinct feeling that no matter what he said, it would only fall on deaf ears; truthfully, there was no reasoning with Mao Mao when he got this way. The only thing Badgerclops could do was just step back and let Mao Mao decide for himself when too much was too much. Badgerclops found that it had always just been easier to let Mao Mao decide when he wanted to ask for help.

With this in mind, Badgerclops simply stood back and watched as Mao Mao made himself take a step forward, the cat deliberately shifting his weight to his right leg. He then continued onward, slowly limping towards the stairs that lead out of the basement; Badgerclops didn't understand how Mao Mao was going to be able to walk up those, and he had a distinct feeling that Mao Mao didn't either. Suddenly, when the cat briefly lowered some of his weight onto his left leg, Mao Mao's leg crumbled, and almost made the feline fall.

"Mao Mao!"

The cry shattered the silence that had unknowingly rested upon the trio and startled both Mao Mao and Badgerclops. Their eyes collectively landed upon Adorabat who, for the most part, had been unusually silent; in fact, Badgerclops had all but forgotten that she was still in the room with them. The young bat's eyes were filled to the brim with worry - and glistening with unshed tears, Badgerclops noted. From the corner of his eye, Badgerclops also noticed that Mao Mao had immediately straightened himself out, and was once again standing in a matter that almost made it look like nothing was wrong with him.

Badgerclops instantly saw the pattern but, before he could say anything, Adorabat suddenly shot over to Mao Mao' side, and encased the feline in a hug. The abrupt hug temporarily off-balanced the cat, but Mao Mao quickly corrected himself. Badgerclops could easily see the tension rise in Mao Mao's shoulders - the guy honestly had a problem with physical affection - but he also could see Mao Mao's eyes soften a bit, the cat lightly patting the bat's back.

"It's okay, Adorabat." Mao Mao said, his rough tone also softening as well.

Badgerclops smiled a bit at the sight; it was relieving to see Mao Mao accept affection from someone - and heaven knows the cat needed it. But, if they were going to get anywhere, Badgerclops knew what he had to do.

"Hey, Adorabat," the bat looked up at the mention of her name. "How about you go upstairs and get the first aid kit ready for us?"

Adorabat seemed hesitant to leave the two of them alone, her eyes briefly flickering between Mao Mao and the stairs. "What about you guys?"

"We'll be up soon, Adorabat." Mao Mao chipped in, gently laying a hand on the bat's head.

That final push seemed to convince Adorabat and she reluctantly released her grip on Mao Mao and flew towards the stairs. She paused in mid-flight near the bottom of the stairs and turned to her head to look at her older companions.

"Don't take too long," she begged. "Okay?"

Both Badgerclops and Mao Mao nodded and, finally satisfied, Adorabat left the room and headed upstairs. The exact moment that she disappeared, Mao Mao's shoulders abruptly lost all their previous tension, and Badgerclops could visibly see them slump underneath Mao Mao's thick, red cape.

"You know," Badgerclops started, despite knowing full well how Mao Mao would react. "You don't have to pretend in front of Adorabat." Mao Mao's ears perked up at the sound of Adorabat's name. "She won't see you as any less of a hero."

Badgerclops had fully expected for Mao Mao to yell at him or tell him to shut up, but he hadn't anticipated for Mao Mao to simply sigh and turn away from him.

"Not now, Badgerclops."

Badgerclops raised his eyebrows, surprised. The cat usually had a boundless amount of energy - the likes of which were only bested by that of Adorabat's - and wasted no time in engaging Badgerclops in some sort of argument whenever the topic of Mao's personal feelings came to light. Now, Badgerclops could catch an unusual amount of fatigue in Mao Mao's voice - the fatigue that was usually in Badgerclops'. Not only that but Mao Mao would've denied Badgerclops' statement to his last dying breath, and not simply ignore it.

This was kind of _concerning_.

Before Badgerclops could even voice his current concerns for the cat, Mao Mao continued his agonizingly slow journey towards the stairs, the limp that had recently been integrated into the feline's strides worsening with every step. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he briefly surveyed the number of steps before him - he was most likely trying to think of a plan on how he was going to get himself up to the top; Badgerclops couldn't help but think that Mao Mao now knew his never-ending pain of going upstairs. Seemingly making up his mind, Mao Mao grasped the banister beside him and pulled himself up to the first step, the cat now fully hopping on his one good foot.

Badgerclops sighed at Mao Mao's determination; at times, it was amusing but, other times - like now - it was annoying. Nevertheless, Badgerclops held his tongue and followed behind Mao Mao. He made sure to keep his distance away from the aggravated feline; not standing directly behind him to avoid Mao Mao snapping at him, but also following closely enough that he was easily able to catch the cat if he were to fall. Badgerclops also forced himself to not look at the numerous droplets of blood that were now dotting the dark wood of the staircase.

Mao Mao getting _injured_ didn't happen often.

Despite how reckless Mao Mao could be, the feline had the unusual capability to escape most physical harm. Whether it's because of Badgerclops, himself, pulling or pushing Mao Mao out of harm's way - usually when the cat got way too cocky for his own good - or because of Mao Mao's capabilities as a hero on the rise, he always managed to escape most battles totally unscathed; more so since the addition of their little deputy, Adorabat, to their team.

Yet, for some odd reason, today was _different_.

Badgerclops had long ago learned to be pretty observant whenever it came to Mao Mao; most times, the guy was extremely obvious whenever something was bothering him - and it didn't help that Mao Mao was just an all-around terrible liar. But, there were still those rare moments in which Mao Mao managed to keep quiet about what was troubling him.

Early that morning, Badgerclops hadn't noticed anything wrong with Mao Mao, except for the fact that the cat - who was an early riser - was the last one to wake up.

* * *

_Badgerclops munched quietly on his cold bowl of cereal, silently watching as Adorabat picked at the marshmallows in her bowl and popped them into her mouth. The door to the kitchen suddenly creaked open, and both Adorabat and Badgerclops paused amid their meal to watch a tired Mao Mao stumble through. The cat had been in the middle of yawning when he noticed the other two already seated at the table, and immediately closed his mouth, surprised._

_"Oh," Mao Mao said. "You two are up early."_

_"You're the one who slept in, Mao Mao!" Adorabat giggled, bits of marshmallow spraying from her mouth._

_Mao Mao's eyes widened. "What?"_

_Badgerclops scooted his bowl away from Adorabat. "Yeah, dude. It's already after 10."_

_Mao Mao scowled. "W-well, why didn't you two wake me up?!"_

_Badgerclops shrugged. "I don't know, man. Maybe because yesterday was rough, and we thought you could use some more rest?"_

_"We're several hours behind schedule for patrolling the valley!" Mao Mao yelled. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "And, that sounded like an excuse for you to be lazy!"_

_Badgerclops chuckled. "Yeah, it was."_

_Adorabat waved one of her wings in the air, effectively drawing attention to herself. "I didn't wake you up because I thought you're snoring was funny!"_

_Mao Mao blushed a light shade of pink. "I don't -"_

_Badgerclops waved his spoon at Mao Mao, grinning. "Oh yeah, Mao. You totally meow in your sleep."_

_Mao Mao's blush deepened. "No-"_

_"I thought he said his name?" Adorabat questioned, confused._

_"I-"_

_No, no." Badgerclops shook his head. "That's when he meditates or whatever. When he's asleep, he meows. It's kind of like this-"_

_Badgerclops began to imitate his version of Mao Mao's snore, initially drawing out the sound to get his point across._

_"Are you sure it's not this?"_

_Adorabat copied Badgerclops' attempt and began to do her interpretation of Mao Mao's signature snore, the young bat making it as loud as possible._

_"All right, enough!"_

_Both Adorabat and Badgerclops froze amid their increasingly loud meowing at the loud, insistent command, and collectively turned their heads to stare at its source. Mao Mao stood there in the doorway of the kitchen with both of his hands clenched tightly at his sides, and a deep scowl on his face. However, despite his obvious enraged expression, the feline's face was also a brilliant shade of red. That fact alone caused Badgerclops to burst out laughing and he was soon followed by Adorabat, who practically sprayed the tabletop with the innards of her mouth._

_Mao Mao seemed taken aback by their sudden outburst in response to his commanding demeanor, the cat's expression now unknowingly sinking into that of embarrassment. However, determined to ignore the antics of his other two teammates, Mao Mao simply grabbed his sword and made his way through the kitchen, purposely making sure that he avoided eye contact with them._

_"I-I'm going to go warm-up." Mao Mao sputtered, obviously trying not to appear flustered - and failing. "You two better be ready to catch up to our daily patrols in 15 minutes."_

_Badgerclops just barely managed to rein in his snickering. "Oh, c' mon, Mao Mao. We were just jok-"_

_Mao Mao immediately turned his head and pointed a sharp finger at him. "12 minutes."_

_"Dude-"_

_"10."_

_"Alright," Badgerclops raised his hands in mock defense. "Whatever you say, dude."_

_Mao Mao nodded, satisfied with Badgerclops' agreement, and instantly moved towards the Dojo._

_"Wait, Mao Mao!" Adorabat's shout succeeded in making the feline halt mid-step, and then turn to look at the youngest member of their team. Adorabat's eyes were wide, and the bat's face was locked into a pleading expression. "Can I please come train with you?"_

_Mao Mao seemed to hesitate for a split second - which was strange seeing as the cat was always up to teaching Adorabat his heroic ways of training - before he shook his head. "Ah, no Adorabat. You should just focus on finishing your breakfast. Breakfast is an important part of a hero's day, after all."_

_Adorabat slumped in her chair. "Aw, phooey."_

_Badgerclops raised a brow at Mao Mao. "Wait. Aren't you going to eat anything, man?"_

_Mao Mao avoided his stare and continued towards his original destination. "I already ate."_

_"But, you just woke up-"_

_The kitchen door slammed behind Mao Mao, interrupting Badgerclops' sentence._

* * *

Besides the slight differences in Mao Mao's usual behavior in the morning, the feline had seemed perfectly fine - if anything, simply embarrassed at the prospect of waking up so late in the morning.

Mao Mao stumbling near the top of the stairs temporarily drew Badgerclops' attention away from his thoughts. Badgerclops' hands instantly came up to catch the cat - a reflex that he had developed while hanging with him - but Mao Mao was a split second quicker and he managed to use the banister to prevent himself from falling backward. Despite avoiding a tumble down the stairs, Badgerclops was still able to pick up the sound of Mao Mao wincing through his gritted teeth.

Then, he noticed something else.

Mao Mao's sudden imbalance reminded him of something that had occurred only a few short hours earlier.

* * *

_A medium-sized monster armed merely with sharp claws rampaged through the middle of the streets of the valley, carelessly knocking any obstacle that it encountered. The Sheriff's Department shoved their way through the small, terrified mass of Sweetypies who, despite Badgerclops' continuous orders to 'chill', screamed and ran all over as they took cover within their respective homes; except for Pinky who, for some reason, hid in a random trash can (you know, where he belongs). Somewhere, amid the chaos, Badgerclops noticed that Mao Mao had been unusually quiet; usually, Mao Mao would be aggressively yelling at the Sweetypies, and selectively shoving some of them out of the way. At the moment, Mao Mao was merely pushing the citizens of Pure Heart Valley into their homes, and glaring at those who had anything to say against him._

_Before he could muse further on the strange behavior, Badgerclops found his attention abruptly snapping back to their current problem when he heard two familiar screams. Currently, the monster was towering over Penny and Benny (who had their arms wrapped around one another) and drooling down on top of their heads. Luckily, before anything could happen, Adorabat descended from the sky and threw two smoke bombs into the monster's unknowing face. The monster roared angrily in response and searched through the smoke for the culprit._

_"Up here, ya big meanie!" Adorabat cried, effectively drawing the beast's attention._

_While the monster was distracted, Penny and Benny ran away and hid in one of the nearby stores that were still open. Once Badgerclops was sure that they were out of harm's way, he transformed his cybernetic arm into a laser cannon, and shot a solid blue stream of light into the beast's side. The laser itself didn't inflict any true damage on him, but it was still enough to draw the monster's attention away from Adorabat. Out of the corner of his eye, Badgerclops saw Mao Mao shoot out from beside him, sword out and ready, and attacked the beast._

_Mao Mao's first strong slash of his golden sword slammed into the beast's broad chest and cut through at least a layer of the beast's tough hide. This resulted in the beast being thrown back into the street, cracking the brick and pavement beneath his large body as he laid silently on his back. From where he stood, Badgerclops could easily see Mao Mao eyeing the fallen monster, his sword lowered towards the street, and his chest heaving with heavy breaths; which was weird since the fight had hardly lasted a few minutes._

_Badgerclops furrowed his brow at this new development, his chest blooming with concern. "Mao Mao-"_

_Then, suddenly, something happened._

_Firstly, the originally downed beast rolled his large body over and slowly climbed to his feet. Mao Mao quickly caught onto the monster's movements and jumped back, slowly raising his sword. Meanwhile, Badgerclops readied his arm for another laser blast, the arm sluggishly taking its time loading - he had forgotten to beg Mao Mao to help him clean out the inner workings of his cybernetic arm - while Adorabat hovered close by and prepped her smoke bombs. Then, all too quickly, the creature turned and set his sight upon Mao Mao, and swiped his large paw at the cat. Luckily, Mao Mao caught the monster's paw with his sword, and he just barely managed to push the creature off, the cat skidding back from the force. While the beast was off-balanced, Mao Mao quickly took advantage of the moment and he followed up with another quick swipe with his sword, and-_

_He **missed**._

_Badgerclops' singular eye widened in absolute shock at the sight before him._

_Even with Mao Mao's proximity to the dazed monster, his golden sword still somehow managed to veer much too far to the right and sliced only at the empty air beside the monster. The creature quickly recovered and, noticing Mao Mao's mistake, immediately moved in with an attack of his own; the creature drawing back his large paw in preparation._

_And, Mao Mao just **stood** there._

_"Mao Mao!" Badgerclops snapped, his voice sounding unusually loud. " **Move!** "_

_That single command seemed to snap Mao Mao out of whatever stupor the cat had fallen in, the cat shaking his head. Then, Mao Mao was bracing himself to run, and when his legs went to move, he-_

_**Stumbled**._

_And Mao Mao never **stumbles**._

_"Oh no," Adorabat whimpered._

_The monster's paw came down onto Mao Mao faster than Badgerclops could blink._

_Then, several things occurred all at once._

_Badgerclops heard Mao Mao's pain-filled cry._

_Drops of blood decorated the brightly colored streets._

_And, Badgerclops found that both he and Adorabat were screaming one name in unison._

_" **Mao Mao!** "_

* * *

Mao Mao had seemed off during their usual battle this afternoon, the cat making careless mistakes that he would usually scold Badgerclops for making. Not only that but the way Mao Mao had fought earlier was different. For instance, Mao Mao was always precise whenever it came to swinging his sword - or using those other weapons he had piled up on his bed - and he never missed, much less when the target was right in front of his face.

Yet, he _did_.

Badgerclops' inner musings were once again brought to a screeching halt by Mao Mao. The cat had finally succeeded in his own stubborn goal to reach the top of the stairs on his own. Badgerclops followed shortly behind him and was briefly considering whether or not he should mockingly congratulate Mao Mao on actually making it to the top when the cat abruptly doubled over.

"Mao Mao?"

Badgerclops quickly skipped up the rest of the steps and placed a gentle hand on the cat's cape-covered back. The slight touch seemed to have jump-started Mao Mao's 'stubbornness meter' because he instantly popped back up - kinda like a jack-in-the-box, Badgerclops noted - as if Badgerclops' hand had burned him. Mao Mao twisted his head to peer at Badgerclops, as if he had forgotten that the cybernetic badger had been so close behind him before he shook Badgerclops' hand off his shoulder and turned away.

Badgerclops scowled concerningly at him. He wasn't hurt by Mao Mao's rude treatment of his concern for him; in fact, he would've been worried if the cat had accepted his touch. He was more fixated on how flushed Mao Mao's face appeared when the cat glanced at him. Badgerclops assumed that the sudden paleness was most likely a negative side effect of Mao Mao's constant blood loss. With this in mind, he decided that he'd best get Mao Mao patched up quickly before the cat's obstinance ran out on him, and Mao Mao passed out - which was the last thing any of them needed right now.

"Come on, dude." Badgerclops gestured at Mao Mao with his hand and moved ahead of the cat. He hoped that picking up the pace might influence Mao Mao to move faster. "Adorabat's waiting for us in the living room."

Mao Mao immediately perked up at the passing mention of their little deputy and, without Badgerclops even having to look at the cat, Badgerclops knew that Mao Mao had to be gazing determinedly in the direction of the living room. Almost instantly, Badgerclops' roundish ears could pick up the sound of Mao Mao's uneven footsteps following closely behind him as they entered the kitchen and headed towards their living room. (Badgerclops forced himself not to look back when he heard Mao Mao bump into one of the kitchen chairs and the short grunt of pain that followed).

Badgerclops stepped through the doorway of the kitchen and nearly collided with a frantic Adorabat, who halted mid-flight just a split second away from slamming into Badgerclops' head. The young bat's eyes were as wide as saucers, and her mouth opened - possibly to ask about Mao Mao's whereabouts - only to close it once she saw that the black cat was standing directly behind the cybernetic badger. Her features instantly relaxed at the sight of Mao Mao standing strongly, and she eagerly gestured to the center of their living room.

"I-I put the first aid kit over there." Adorabat directed almost timidly.

Thanks, Adorabat," Badgerclops murmured in appreciation, lifting his flesh hand and patting the bat gently on the head.

Adorabat permitted his large hand to rub away her building tension, a shy, hesitant smile growing across her face at the comforting gesture. Badgerclops returned her smile with one of his own, and he instinctively jumped when he felt something soft brush against the sensitive fur on his arm. Badgerclops twisted his head to the side just in time to see Mao Mao limp forward and push his way past the cybernetic badger. Badgerclops opened his mouth to comment on Mao Mao's usual rudeness - "you could've said excuse me, dude" - before he noticed that the black cat was determinedly walking towards the first aid kit.

"Excuse me, Adorabat," Badgerclops said quickly, moving around the small bat and rushing after Mao Mao.

Combined with his own larger and longer strides and Mao Mao's considerably slower footsteps, Badgerclops was easily able to catch up to Mao Mao and, as the black cat's fingertips reached towards the handle of the small white box, Badgerclops extended his robotic arm and swiped it out of his hands.

"Hey-" Mao Mao cried, whirling around to confront the badger.

"Uh, uh, uh." Badgerclops tsked, wagging the finger of his flesh hand at the samurai cat. His cybernetic arm extended the small white box above his head, and out of reach of Mao Mao should the black cat try and make a grab for it. "You know the rules, Mao."

A few years ago, shortly after Badgerclops and Mao Mao initially met and started their heroic partnership, Badgerclops noted that the samurai cat had an irksome habit of disregarding his wellbeing whenever he got hurt (though that never really ever happened). And, in the rare case that Mao Mao chose to acknowledge the fact that he was hurt, the cat was notoriously bad at estimating the extent of his wounds. Badgerclops could distinctly recall a time in which Mao Mao had been wounded. Mao Mao had been adamant about taking care of his injuries, which Badgerclops had originally trusted him to do. That is until Mao Mao passed out in front of him after the cat neglected to properly bandage his wounds. Ever since then Badgerclops has designated himself as the one who took care of the original duo's injuries.

Mao Mao scowled, his acid green eyes staring intently at the cybernetic badge as if he was visually trying to challenge Badgerclops' authority. Use to the usual ferocity of Mao Mao's glares, Badgerclops merely countered him with a cool, hard stare of his own, making it quite clear that he was firmly standing his ground. After a few moments, Mao Mao reluctantly surrendered the unintentional staring contest by looking away and backed away from Badgerclops. Badgerclops smiled smugly at the annoyed cat, clearly enjoying his apparent victory over Mao Mao, and dramatically gestured for Mao Mao to take a seat on the couch. Mao Mao rolled his eyes in response but he obeyed Badgerclops and sat delicately on the couch with a huff. Satisfied that Mao Mao was going to comply, for now at least, Badgerclops set the first aid down onto the wooden table and kneeled between the table and their couch, his fingers opening the tabs on the side with a loud click. He immediately peeled the kit open and scoured through the innards of the small box, pulling out various objects that he found vital to wrapping Mao Mao's injury.

A flurry of movement occurred somewhere near Badgerclops' left side and, when he tore his attention away from the first aid, he was unsurprised to see that Adorabat had relocated herself to the armrest beside him. The young bat carefully positioned herself on the armrest so she could rest close to Mao Mao's side, but still be able to peer over Badgerclops' shoulder if she wanted. Badgerclops finished collecting all the things he needed from the first aid kit and placed onto the table, then he turned to look at Mao Mao.

"Here," Badgerclops said, reaching out with his flesh hand and making a 'gimme' gesture with his fingers. "Gimme your leg, Mao Mao."

Mao Mao stared distastefully at Badgerclops' flesh hand as if he was hoping it would go away if he stared long enough. However, when Badgerclops' hand remained in the air, Mao Mao begrudgingly lifted his leg and placed it within Badgerclops' open palm. Bagerclops gently grasped Mao Mao's heel and twisted the cat's leg, so he could get a better look at his battle wound.

Badgerclops' singular eye widened in shock, and his throat suddenly felt very dry.

Mao Mao had done a fair job of hiding the injury, and Badgerclops had only been able to see the severity of the wound through a few quick glimpses. And, even then, Badgerclops could see that Mao Mao's wound was bad. But now, with the close-up view, Badgerclops could truly see the intensity of Mao Mao's gash. The gash was long and deep, easily cutting through several layers of skin and thick black fur. Despite Badgerclops' light grip, red blood pooled from the wound in rivers and dripped down onto the hardwood floor below.

This was pretty bad; the worse injury Badgerclops could recall Mao Mao getting in quite a while. And to think, if Mao Mao had just been a split second slower at dodging the monster's attack, it could've easily been a lot worse.

That particular train of thought dropped into the pit of Badgerclops' stomach and made him feel vaguely ill.

Beside Badgerclops, a tiny voice suddenly spoke up, startling him. "That looks bad."

The quiet statement made Badgerclops all too aware of the fact that there was currently a pair of far too young eyes observing the same bloody scene before him. When he twisted his neck around to look, Badgerclops noted that Adorabat was staring with wide, unblinking eyes at Mao Mao's leg. Feeling the distinct need to distract the bat, Badgerclops called Adorabat's name.

"Hey Adorabat," Badgerclops said, calmly. His voice effectively managed to draw Adorabat's attention away from Mao Mao, and towards the cybernetic badger. "D'ya mind getting me a rag and a bowl of water?"

Adorabat reluctantly nodded and left the living room to acquire said items. Badgerclops waited until he was sure that Adorabat was out of earshot before he redirected his attention to Mao Mao.

"Dude," Badgerclops murmured, lowering his voice to a whisper. Mao Mao looked away from where Adorabat disappeared through the doorway of the kitchen and focused on Badgerclops. Once the cybernetic badger was sure the cat was solely focused on him, he gave Mao Mao a serious look. "This could've seriously been a lot worse. What happened out there, today?"

Mao Mao frowned. "What? Nothing happened."

"Mao Mao, you've been kind of... off all day." Mao Mao rose an eyebrow at this statement. "You've been quiet and weird. And, during the battle earlier, you kept slipping up."

"No, I haven't-!"

"Mao, I recorded the whole thing."

That statement seemed to temporarily throw Mao Mao off for a split second before the cat's expression hardened. "Badgerclops, I'd appreciate it if you minded your own business."

Mao Mao's harsh declaration stung Badgerclops' sensitive feelings, despite how accustomed he was to the samurai cat's usual brash attitude. Averting his eyes away from Mao Mao's piercing green ones, Badgerclops merely swallowed down his own cruel retort.

"Fine." He muttered, bitterly. "Sorry. I guess I was worried for no reason."

Badgerclops' words loosened the annoyance in Mao Mao's expression and replaced it with a more apologetic one. The cat hadn't meant to snap at him. However, before anything more could be said between the two of them, Adorabat busted back into the living room, a small bowl with a red rag within clenched between her legs.

"Here ya go!" Adorabat chirped, flapping over to Badgerclops.

The badger reached an unoccupied hand up to grasp the bowl in his large hand. "Thanks again, Adorabat. Sorry, I had you grab all those things."

Adorabat shook her head and smiled brightly, her previous nervousness forgotten. "It's no problem! Anything to help!"

Badgerclops smiled as well, the bat's usual cheerfulness being extremely contagious. However, he was soon brought back to the urgent matter at hand when he felt the distinct feeling of something moist coating the brown fur on his palm. Badgerclops lightly placed the bowl on the floor near his knees and plucked the soggy red rag from it. Making sure to avoid eye contact with the black cat, Badgerclops gently pressed the cloth up against Mao Mao's wound and rubbed it along the cut. Beneath his fingertips, Badgerclops felt Mao Mao's muscles twitch in response to his gentle treatment and, from his position on the floor, he noted that Mao Mao's hands were digging deep into the couch cushions with each dab of the rag.

Badgerclops continued until he was sure that the red liquid eased down to a mere dribble. Then, he snatched up a small bottle of antibiotic ointment standing idly by on the table beside him and applied a thin layer of it onto Mao Mao's leg. After that was done, Badgerclops pressed a roll of bandages to the cat's injured limb and wrapped it around several times.

Badgerclops felt a light weight settle lightly upon his shoulder as he cut the bandages from the roll. When he twisted his neck to look, Badgerclops could see Adorabat's curious eyes glued onto his hands as he diligently worked. Badgerclops finished looping the cloth and tightly tied the bright white bandages off.

"There ya go, Mao," Badgerclops said, releasing the black cat's small foot.

Mao Mao withdrew his leg and carefully studied Badgerclops' handiwork, rotating the limb to observe the bandages. Badgerclops was greatly displeased to see that a few drops of blood were already bleeding through the thick layers of cloth. However, Mao Mao seemed satisfied, the cat gingerly lowering his leg back to the ground.

"Thanks, Badgerclops."

Badgerclops merely bobbed his head and gathered up all the supplies. Though he may be used to Mao Mao's rude attitude, Badgerclops couldn't help but feel a little sore at Mao Mao's blatant disregard for this concern. Breathing deeply through his nose, Badgerclops continued to place all the items back within the first aid kit. Badgerclops tried not let himself be startled when Adorabat, apparently sensing that the danger has now passed, flew from her temporary perch on his shoulder, and landed on the couch next Mao Mao.

Adorabat shyly approached the cat and wrapped her wings around herself. "Are you okay now, Mao Mao?"

Mao Mao smiled reassuringly and placed an affectionate hand on the bat's head. "Yes, Adorabat. I'm okay."

"Great!" Adorabat cheered joyfully, a beaming smile replacing the original unease on her face. After a moment, her smile faded and a thoughtful expression appeared in its place. "So, what now?"

The three of them were silent for a moment. None of them had quite thought that far; Mao Mao had been their first priority, after all. However, a thought quickly came to Badgerclops' mind when he looked at Mao Mao. One that could hopefully keep Mao Mao off of his feet - at least for a few hours.


	2. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adorabat's eyes widened at the number of movies that were tucked away in the box. "Woah! Where'd you get so many movies, Badgerclops?"
> 
> Mao Mao scoffed, his earlier mood now forgotten. "He bought them on clearance from a bunch of shops from our previous adventures, and refused to throw them away."
> 
> "Dude, you make me sound like some kind of hoarder. I just like to collect a bunch of questionable stuff and throw absolutely nothing away."
> 
> "You literally just defined the exact meaning of the word 'hoarder'-you know what, never mind."
> 
> "Okay, I organized everything in here based on different categories." Badgerclops reached in and pulled out a random movie. His eye immediately lit up at the sight of it, and he showed it to his friends. "Hey! How about this one?"
> 
> Mao Mao and Adorabat's noses instantly scrunched up at the cover of the movie. On the case, two tall swans, one male, and the other female dressed in old-timey clothes. The swans' hands were clasped tightly together and they were in the midst of leaning in for a kiss, their lips puckered in preparation.
> 
> "Ew!" Adorabat screeched, shying away from the film.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I hope you all enjoy this story and leave behind some reviews!

"How about a movie night?"

Mao Mao furrowed his brows in confusion while Adorabat appeared thoroughly pleased with the idea. "Yay!"

"What?" Mao Mao asked.

"Yeah, man." Badgerclops closed the first aid kit. "We've already done patrols for today, and we just beat up a monster. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a good reason to have a movie night."

"Yeah!" Adorabat agreed. "Besides, we haven't had a movie night in forever!"

Mao Mao know looked unsure. "I don't know..."

Badgerclops smiled knowingly. "Oh come on, man. You wouldn't say no to these faces." Badgerclops inclined his body over to Adorabat and pressed his larger cheek up against her smaller one, effectively squashing their faces together. Combined, the two of them shot Mao Mao the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes imaginable, their lips out in a large pout. Mao Mao gave them an incredulous look and, when they remained in the same position, he simply huffed and rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Ok, fine," Mao Mao said, leaning his head against the back of the couch and smiling lightly.

Badgerclops and Adorabat cheered and peeled their faces away from each other, smiling widely. Badgerclops held his hand out to Adorabat, and the young bat eagerly high-fived it. Smirking, Badgerclops returned his attention to Mao Mao.

"Told ya." He said, mockingly.

"Whatever." Mao Mao grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Alright!" Badgerclops clapped his hands together, briefly startling Mao Mao and Adorabat. "Adorabat, you get the snacks ready while I get the movies out. And you-" he clasped his hands together, pressed his pointer fingers together and directed them at Mao Mao, "stay there and not move. You can do that, right?"

Mao Mao glared at him but otherwise didn't disobey the badger's orders. Beside him, Adorabat opened her wings and jumped into the air, excitedly.

"Aye, aye, captain!" Adorabat chirped, saluting Badgerclops with her wing. Without another word, she fled from the room and headed into the kitchen.

Badgerclops slowly rose to his feet and swiped a small square pillow off their green couch. Fluffing it, Badgerclops stepped closer to Mao Mao and made a gesture with his hand.

"Up," he commanded.

Mao Mao side-eyed him in confusion. When he neglected to move, Badgerclops leaned down and gingerly tapped Mao Mao's foot until the cat got the message, and he picked it up. Badgerclops placed the square pillow onto the table and directed Mao Mao's foot to it. Badgerclops nodded to himself, satisfied once he was sure Mao Mao's leg was propped up properly, and then he headed towards the TV stand.

Mao Mao rose a brow at Badgerclops' gentle treatment. "Seriously?"

Badgerclops jokingly cupped a hand around his ear as he leaned down to grab a cardboard box from underneath the TV. "What was that? Thank you, Badgerclops for taking good care of me?" Badgerclops smiled at him. "Well, you're welcome, Mao Mao!"

Mao Mao's face softened, and he smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"No problem," Badgerclops waved his hand, dismissively. He peeled back the flaps of the cardboard box and reached in to study the CDs within.

In the distance, Badgerclops was dimly aware of Adorabat loudly punching numbers into their microwave, and humming a random tune.

"Sorry."

Badgerclops' small ears perked up at the mumbled apology, and he immediately paused in his search for a good movie. If the room hadn't been quite so quiet, then Badgerclops may have been unable to hear it. He twisted his head to look at Mao Mao from his place on the floor, and he noted that the cat had averted his eyes and was currently staring at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"What?"

Mao Mao sighed, but he still refused to look at Badgerclops. "I said, I'm sorry," he repeated louder.

Badgerclops shook his head and turned back to the box. "Dude, I was joking earlier-"

"Not just that."

Badgerclops picked up a random CD case and turned it over to look at the back, his eyes briefly skimming the plot summary inscribed there. He figured that Mao Mao was apologizing for snapping at him earlier. "Mao, it's okay. You were hurt and-"

"Not that, either." Mao Mao insisted, gruffly.

Badgerclops furrowed his brow and checked his memory for what Mao Mao could be talking about, his hand still gripping the movie. What could he be apologizing for-?

Earlier.

Badgerclops' singular eye widened, and he frowned in concern.

Mao Mao was apologizing for his performance during the fight earlier.

"Okay, dude, no. Just no." Badgerclops swung his head at the cat and pointed a firm finger at him. "That was not your fault. We all have off days. Besides, you got hurt. There's no reason to apologize for something you couldn't prevent, right?"

Mao Mao pressed his lips into a thin line but otherwise didn't indicate a reply.

"Mao Mao," he briefly considered calling the cat by his full name but decided against it. "Seriously, are we going to have to talk about this?"

It was an honest question.

Badgerclops knew that Mao Mao had an irritating habit of blaming himself whenever things went wrong. Despite traveling with the cat for a while now, Badgerclops was still unable to determine exactly where that particular trait of Mao Mao originated from. All he knew was that Mao Mao had it for as long as he could remember.

In the kitchen, the microwave beeped loudly, and Adorabat's humming abruptly came to an end.

Mao Mao was unusually silent for a few seconds before he simply shook his head, his piercing green eyes finally meeting Badgerclops'. Badgerclops breathed in through his nose at this development and decided to leave the conversation there at the moment. Badgerclops knew that if he pushed Mao Mao to talk, the cat would simply clam up and refuse to say anything else. If Mao Mao didn't want to talk about it, then they wouldn't talk about it; as simple as that.

All too suddenly, Adorabat was fluttering back into the living room, carrying a comically large bowl of popcorn.

"I'm back!" She proclaimed, loudly. Adorabat then placed the full bowl onto the table and returned to her space beside Mao Mao.

Badgerclops' eye remained on Mao Mao for a split second longer before he heeded the large cardboard box beside him. "Alright," Badgerclops showed the contents of the box to Adorabat and Mao Mao. "I have a bunch of movies we can watch."

Adorabat's eyes widened at the number of movies that were tucked away in the box. "Woah! Where'd you get so many movies, Badgerclops?"

Mao Mao scoffed, his earlier mood now forgotten. "He bought them on clearance from a bunch of shops from our previous adventures, and refused to throw them away."

"Dude, you make me sound like some kind of hoarder. I just like to collect a bunch of questionable stuff and throw absolutely nothing away."

"You just defined the exact meaning of the word 'hoarder'-you know what, never mind."

"Okay, I organized everything in here based on different categories." Badgerclops reached in and pulled out a random movie. His eye immediately lit up at the sight of it, and he showed it to his friends. "Hey! How about this one?"

Mao Mao and Adorabat's noses instantly scrunched up at the cover of the movie. On the case, two tall swans, one male, and the other female dressed in old-timey clothes. The swans' hands were clasped tightly together and they were leaning in for a kiss, their lips puckered in preparation.

"Ew!" Adorabat screeched, shying away from the film.

Mao Mao placed a hand over Adorabat's young eyes, successfully blocking the image from her sight. "Badgerclops, I don't think that movie is exactly... age-appropriate for Adorabat, yet."

"What? No!" Badgerclops looked at the movie. "This movie's not like that. It's all about two lovers separated by their respective warring families, and forced to find ways to meet in secret-"

Mao Mao held out a hand, effectively interrupting him. "Yeah, no. You lost us at 'lovers'."

"Humph. You guys are just haters." Badgerclops grumbled, dropping the film back into the box. He scoured around for a while before he made a disgusted face, and pulled out a rainbow-colored case. "How'd this one wind up in here?"

"What?" Mao Mao held his hand out, his palm facing up. "Let me see it."

Badgerclops instantly obliged to the cat's request and eagerly passed the case over to Mao Mao's outstretched hand, almost as if he wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible. The exact moment that Mao Mao's eyes met the cover of the movie, his face scrunched up and matched that of Badgerclops'. "Ugh, who's even want to watch this?"

"Ooh! Lemme see! Lemme see!" Adorabat demanded, excitedly. She leaned heavily on Mao Mao's arm and peered eagerly at the cover. However, unlike her older companions, Adorabat's eyes widened in child-like wonder. "Ooh! That looks so cool!"

"Really?" Badgerclops and Mao Mao questioned in unison.

Adorabat nodded her hand at an impossibly fast speed. "Yeah! What's it about?"

Hesitant, Mao Mao reluctantly twisted the case over and read the detailed description on the back. "The rainbow unicorn kitten, Penny, and her other cutesy pals work together to save the kingdom from the evil armada of pegasus puppies."

Mao Mao visually cringed at the plot summary of the movie, and Badgerclops found himself struggling not to laugh. Hearing such a cutesy thing told through Mao Mao's deep voice was both hilarious and kind of cute.

"See!?" Adorabat screeched happily, pointing at the movie. "It sounds like there's action-" Adorabat punched the air, "danger and adventure! Doesn't that movie sound awesome?!"

"Uh, no, Adorabat," Mao Mao said, giving Badgerclops the DVD case. "It doesn't."

"Yeah, dude. I like cute things as much as the next guy. But, if I watch that movie, I'm literally going to end up vomiting rainbows." Badgerclops added.

"Wait." Adorabat's face fell and her eyes almost appeared watery. It was obvious to anyone who looking at her that she was trying to get what she wanted. "So, we're not watching it?"

Thankfully, Mao Mao, having spent enough time with Adorabat by now to know her usual antics, knew not to look Adorabat directly in the eyes. "No, Adorabat."

"Hmph," Adorabat huffed, crossing her wings across her chest.

Badgerclops happily tossed the movie underneath the rest of his collection and continued searching for the perfect film. It was kind of difficult seeing as they were all interested in their own selective thing. However, Badgerclops soon found something he thought might work for all three of them.

"Oh, hey, Mao." Badgerclops pulled the film out, a fond smile on his face. "Remember this?"

Badgerclops held it out to the cat, and Mao Mao took it with a raised brow. Quietly, Mao Mao stared at the cover of the case while Adorabat propped her head up on Mao Mao's arm to look at the movie as well.

On the dark cover was a tall white stork dressed in a slick black tuxedo with a pair of black sunglasses balanced on the edge of his beak. Lying bride-style in his large white winged-arms was a short female stork, the young bird's wings wrapped around the male's neck. Behind them, a large explosion illuminated their backs, ruffling their feathers. The title of the movie sat in giant bold white letters above the stork's heads; JAMES STORK. The familiar image activated a distant memory in the back of Mao Mao's mind and he nodded in response to Badgerclops' earlier question, a smile of his own gracing his lips.

"We watched it a while back. A shopkeeper gave to us after we defeated his store from a couple of evil-doers." Mao Mao explained to Adorabat, twisting to the back of the movie to read the plot. "It was actually pretty good."

"It was?" Adorabat asked.

"Yeah." Badgerclops leaned against the table. "In fact, I think its got something we'll all like." Badgerclops began to count off of his fingers. "There's adventures, explosions, fights, and _romance-_ "

"Did you say ' _explosions'_?! _"_ Adorabat yelled, grinning. She obviously didn't hear anything else that Badgerclops said. "I wanna see that!"

"Alright, I guess that means Adorabat's on board." Badgerclops leaned forward and snatched the film out of Mao Mao's hands, earning him a frown from the cat. "What about you, Mao?"

Mao Mao rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Great. Then, it's settled." Badgerclops stated, popping the disc of its case. "Adorabat, if you'll hit the lights, please."

"Yep!" Adorabat cried, popping the 'p'.

Without further ado, she took off into the air and located the light switch in the room. As she did that, Badgerclops shoved the box back underneath the TV and slid his DVD into their small DVD player. Barely a second later, the lights flickered off, shrouding the room in darkness except for the blue loading screen of the movie. The instant in which the screen changed to the start menu of the movie, Badgerclops grabbed the DVD player's remote control and plopped himself down on the couch on the left of Mao Mao while Adorabat took the right. His hand already reaching for the snacks on the table, Badgerclops pressed play.

* * *

The entirety of the action-packed movie was exactly what Badgerclops remembered it being. The film was almost completely chocked full of crazy, elaborate missions that the title character had been tasked with completing in a certain amount of time which, then lead to extreme over-the-top adventures and over-dramatic fights between the good guys and the bad guys. Unsurprisingly, Badgerclops noticed that Adorabat and Mao Mao seemed to be enjoying this overall plot of the movie; they were both exceedingly violent people by nature.

From the first adventure-filled moment of the movie, Mao Mao and Adorabat were actively invested in everything that transpired on the screen of the TV. They both cheered and grinned like the absolute maniacs they were at the gigantic explosions that occurred with nearly every fight that James Stork participated in, and the mind-blowing stunts he performed with ease.

"Ooh! Mao Mao!" Adorabat suddenly cried, excitedly pointing at the TV screen. Before them, James Stork did an impossibly difficult flip over several bad guys in black before he delivered a series of pokes to their distinct pressure points. "Can you do that, too?"

Mao Mao scoffed, confidently. "Of course, I can."

Badgerclops chuckled. "Sure you can, dude."

"What?" Mao Mao frowned at him, the cat already moving to get up from his seat. "Do you want to see proof?"

"No, no, no." Badgerclops pushed the cat back down onto the couch. "I believe you. No need to prove me wrong, Mao."

Satisfied, Mao Mao settled back into the couch, and they continued the watch the movie.

Badgerclops' favorite part of the film finally came when James Stork saved his somewhat stubborn female companion from the bad guys, and they stood side-by-side staring at the full moon. They talked in hushed tones before they found themselves leaning into one another and kissing each other firmly on the lips. The sight brought tears of joy to Badgerclops' eye, although that was quickly ruined by Mao Mao and Adorabat's collective booing.

"Oh, come on, guys," Badgerclops said, trying and failing to shush them.

In fact, in response to his shushing, Mao Mao and Adorabat grabbed fistfuls of popcorn from their shared bowl and tossed it at him. Instead of getting mad, Badgerclops found himself merely laughing at their antics, and catching a few flying kernels with his mouth.

For the most part, it seemed that the movie had helped to dissipate the tense atmosphere amongst the trio; Mao Mao especially. The unusual behavior that the cat displayed earlier had slowly melted away as the movie went on. Adorabat cheered loudly for the good guys when she saw it necessary, and Mao Mao and Badgerclops gave their own commentary on certain parts of the film. Although, Badgerclops did notice that Mao Mao did continuously shy away from the snacks on the table beside the occasional bite here and there.

Soon, as the movie continued and got closer and closer to the end, the good mood that had settled over the room like a warm blanket, seemed to slowly disappear. At some point, most likely after the initial climax of the movie, Mao Mao abruptly dropped out of their group conversation and fell almost completely silent. Adorabat continued chatting happily about how much she was enjoying the movie, and Badgerclops tried to pay attention to her and subtly coax the cat back into their conversation. However, Mao Mao merely turned down each of Badgerclops' attempts and instead stared blankly at the TV screen before him. Badgerclops briefly considered pointing out Mao Mao's sudden quietness when the cat in question wobbly stood from his seat.

"Woah, dude," Badgerclops said, not expecting the sudden movement.

"I'm going to bed."

"Whaat?" Adorabat whined.

Badgerclops quickly paused the film to make eye contact with Mao Mao. "Yeah, Mao Mao. We still have like thirty minutes to go until it's over."

"So you can't leave, yet," Adorabat begged.

"It's fine." Mao Mao reassured, yawning. "I've already seen this, remember? I know how this ends."

"Still," Badgerclops egged on. "Come on, dude."

"I'm going to bed." Mao Mao insisted stubbornly. He shuffled past Badgerclops and limped towards the kitchen, effectively ending the conversation. "Goodnight, Badgerclops. Goodnight, Adorabat."

Adorabat frowned at Mao Mao's final decision to leave the group movie night. "Goodnight," she grumbled, moodily.

"Goodnight, Mao Mao." Badgerclops' finger hovered over the play button on the remote before he suddenly recalled something important. "And, don't forget to put your foot up!" He called over his shoulder.

There was no response to his initial request and, feeling no desire at the moment to get up nor repeat himself, Badgerclops simply hoped Mao Mao had heard what he had said the first time. Turning his head back, Badgerclops refocused his attention back to Adorabat and her sad expression.

"Hey, come on, Adorabat." He playfully nudged her in the side, successfully drawing a squeal from her. "We can still have fun without Mao Mao, right?"

"... Yeah." Adorabat said, half-heartedly.

"Seriously, dude." Badgerclops looked down at Adorabat with a frown. "Can't you act a bit more energetic than that?"

"Yeah!"

Badgerclops smiled. "That's more like it!"

And, without further ado, Badgerclops pressed play.

* * *

Towards the conclusion of the movie, Badgerclops noticed that Adorabat was dangerously close to falling asleep against his side. Every few seconds, the young deputy's eyes would droop and slowly slide shut only to instantly reopen. It wasn't until he felt Adorabat's drool practically coating that enough was enough, and he immediately paused the movie.

"Yep, we're done." Badgerclops shook Adorabat. "Come on, Adorabat. It's time to go to bed."

"Wha?" Adorabat gradually sat up and rubbed at her tired eyes, yawning. "But, we haven't finished watching the movie, yet."

"Adorabat, you're obviously tired; too tired to watch the rest of the movie. And, besides, you've been slobbering on my arm for the past five minutes." Adorabat sleepily booed at him. "We'll finish the movie tomorrow or something."

"Ook."

Adorabat nodded and flapped herself into the air. Although, after a few seconds, she was unable to keep herself afloat, and she immediately fell towards the floor. Luckily, Badgerclops was more than quick enough to catch her small, but surprisingly heavy body, and scooped her up with a quiet grunt. Adorabat curled up against his chest in response and instantly fell asleep. Badgerclops smiled at the affectionate gesture and looked at the young bat. Adorabat could be cute when she wanted to.

Other times, she was just plain scary.

He took his eye from Adorabat's slumbering body and refocused it onto the current state of the living room. There were discarded popcorn kernels littering the hardwood floor and the couch. He briefly considered cleaning up the living room before he decided against it. It was too late; he was too tired; and, honestly, he was too lazy. If he remembered, he'd clean it up in the morning.

Maybe.

Yeah, no.

Although, Mao Mao might have a thing or two to say about it in the morning. Speaking of the cat, he's a better check on him. Mao Mao did have a horrible track record of listening and/or sitting still when he needed to. With that thought in mind, Badgerclops grabbed the TV remote and shut it off before making his way towards their shared bedroom.

When he arrived, Badgerclops was shocked to see that Mao Mao had enough foresight to leave the lights on. Usually, the cat would waste no time slicing through their lamp, and leave him stumbling through the dark. According to Mao Mao, the light made it harder to sleep. Despite that, the cat in question was curled up in a tight ball on the bottom bunk, his back turned to Badgerclops. Badgerclops' eye wandered down to the extra pillow that Mao Mao's foot was propped upon, and he pleased to learn that the cat actually listened to him. Satisfied, Badgerclops watched Mao Mao's slumbering for a few more seconds before he stretched his arms up and tried to place Adorabat into her bed. He was puzzled on how to correctly place the bat into her usual upside-down position when Adorabat unconsciously fixed the problem herself. Shrugging his shoulders at the display, Badgerclops switched the lamp off and climbed his way to the top of the bunk bed. There, he turned his night light on, the white light easily slicing through the suffocating darkness of the room, and reached underneath his pillow and pulled out his notebook.

Despite being tired, Badgerclops couldn't help drawing the scene he had lined up in his head. He flipped to an empty page and began to doodle. After a few minutes, the outline of the picture developed before his eye, and he paused to get a good look at his drawing. It was a simple picture of Mao Ma, Adorabat, and himself lounging on the couch and eagerly watching on the television before them. Mao Mao and Adorabat's grinning mouths were frozen in the midst of laughing while Badgerclops himself was simply munching on some popcorn. Badgerclops resumed drawing and continued until he found himself outlining Mao Mao's bandaged foot propped on the table, and his thoughts immediately shifted back to the battle earlier.

When he blinked, Badgerclops found that he had unconsciously begun to doodle on the other side of the page. It was a small picture of Mao Mao struggling to dodge the beast from earlier as it got closer and closer and-

Badgerclops tore out the page and crumbled it up before tossing it somewhere behind him. He immediately started anew on a new page.

The first picture was terrible anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed it! Things get a little... angsty in the next chapter. That's all I'm revealing. ;)


	3. I gotta feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Badgerclops eased himself onto the edge of Mao Mao's bunk, stiffening as he tried to shift his weight to his other foot. He focused his gaze upon where he assumed the feline's resting body was -
> 
> Huh.
> 
> Badgerclops blinked, internally pondering whether the darkness was playing tricks on his mind. Then, he leaned closer and squinted his eye at Mao Mao's bed.
> 
> The usually neat tucked in sheets were in utter disarray and the pillow that Mao Mao used to prop up his foot - Badgerclops' pillow - was lying dejectedly on the floorboards. Mao Mao's extra weapons stuck out from underneath the mattress, their sharp edges glinting in the lamp's weak light.
> 
> The only thing missing from the bed was Mao Mao.
> 
> Badgerclops allowed himself to drop to the floor, the wooden floorboards below producing a slight creak, and the corners of his lips tilted downwards at the sight of Mao Mao's vacant bed. Badgerclops briefly scoured the room with his eye, as if he expected Mao Mao to be hiding in the shadows. When that proved fruitless, he sighed and looked towards the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Feel free to leave behind some reviews/comments on how you guys thought it was!

Badgerclops abruptly snapped into consciousness, his body moving faster than his drowsy mind, and he automatically popped into an upright position. It was an instinctual reaction that he swiftly developed shortly after he began to travel with Mao Mao. For some odd reason, the feline was a literal magnet for trouble; danger constantly licking at Mao Mao's heels. Badgerclops would be fibbing if he said that it wasn't often when he'd end up rolling out of his sleeping bag in the wee hours of the morning just because Mao Mao had somehow managed to get into a tussle with a bad guy.

However, instead of feeling the soft fabric of their large camping tent brush against his noggin, Badgerclops' head smacked directly into the wooden ceiling above him with a loud thump. Pain blossomed across his forehead and a cry nearly slipped through his loose lips. The only good thing to come from the accident was that the uncomfortable sensation erased the last dregs of sleep from his mind, and he became painfully aware of the two slumbering - at least as far as he was concerned - occupants below him. He bit down on his tongue, effectively swallowing the noise before it could make its way out into the open. Still worried, Badgerclops perked his small round ears and patiently waited, listening for any indications that he disturbed the others with his loud awakening as he rubbed his head. After a few precious seconds of silence, Badgerclops let out a quiet sigh of relief.

He was worried that the sound had woken Mao Mao up.

Then again, now that Badgerclops really thought about it, Mao Mao did seem a little run-down a few hours ago. He assumed that even adrenaline junkies like Mao Mao would become a heavy sleeper if exhausted enough.

Badgerclops yawned, the sudden urge forcing his mouth open. When he raised his hand to muffle the sound, he was disgusted to find a thin string of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. Scrubbing vigorously at his mouth, Badgerclops followed the path of spit to his open notepad, sitting innocently on his pillow.

He must've fallen asleep drawing again.

Badgerclops gently lifted the notepad into his hands, and he checked the state of his drawing under the soft light of his small lamp. The rest of his saliva puddled upon the crisp, new sketch that he made of their much-needed movie night. Somehow, he proudly accomplished in re-creating his masterpiece after he messed up the original. But now, his carelessness in properly putting up his notepad caused him to drool on the paper. His spit dotted the paper, slightly distorting the quality of his artwork.

Badgerclops groaned at the sight and, despite his better judgment, he tried to rub the spit away with his forearm. Badgerclops frowned at the new image before him; Mao Mao and Adorabat's grinning faces were smeared, their features practically indistinguishable. Badgerclops exhaled through his nose, and he softly closed the cover of his notepad before shoving it into its respectful place underneath his pillow.

He could probably fix it later.

Badgerclops gently face-planted into the comfy white of his singular pillow - because apparently Mao Mao somehow interpreted his earlier words as please, take my pillow without asking me. Badgerclops closed his eyes, and he waited for the usual sweet embrace of sleep to whisk him away, taking the exhaustion that coated his body.

Usually, sleeping would've been easy peasy for someone like him.

The word, _usually_ , being the keyword.

Badgerclops squeezed his eyes tight, trying to force himself to simply fall asleep. He was soon forced to stop once black-and-white spots began to burst brightly underneath his eyelids, and he opened his eyes. Badgerclops lifted his head from his pillow, and he glared out into the surrounding darkness of the shared bedroom as if it was to blame for his sudden bout of insomnia.

He had a really strange feeling.

There was this weird instinct - intuition - that tickled the back of his mind and, no matter how much he tried to ignore it, stubbornly refused to go away. He assumed the feeling was the true culprit as to why he couldn't sleep. It merely anchored him to the realm of consciousness. The irritating thing about it was that Badgerclops recognized this particular feeling. The only problem is that he couldn't quite place it.

Badgerclops sighed, and he sat up in his bed; this time he took care to be aware of the ceiling looming above him. Wearily, he wiped his eyes, silently thinking about his inability to get any sleep.

Maybe, he was hungry.

He did distinctly recall only munching on that bowl of popcorn during the movie; he'd been too preoccupied with patching up Mao Mao to consider actually getting anything. At the thought of food, Badgerclops' inert stomach suddenly roared to life and, when Badgerclops placed his hand upon it, the organ grumbled angrily underneath his palm. He softly patted his stomach, attempting to hush it before it got too loud.

He was definitely hungry.

It couldn't hurt to eat a midnight snack or two, right?

With his mind made up, Badgerclops slowly climbed over the edge of his bed, and he began his descent to the floor. He'd whined several times to Mao Mao that they should get him a ladder or something so it'd make it easier for him to venture down from his spot on top. But, Mao Mao merely told him to make do with what he had.

Now, Badgerclops wished he'd been more adamant about getting the ladder as he delicately placed his foot onto Adorabat's bed, the soft mattress sinking under his weight. Thankfully, Adorabat rarely slept on the bed itself and, instead, hung from the bottom of Badgerclops' bed. He could never quite understand how she managed to get any sleep in such an uncomfortable position. Didn't blood rush to her head?

Ignoring his unanswered question, Badgerclops stealthily slipped past the young bat, his eye lingering on her slumbering form. From what he saw, Adorabat slept soundly, her wings drawn tight around her small body. Her youthful expression was peaceful; unmarred by any fright or anguish. It didn't look anything like it had earlier. Badgerclops could still recollect the terrified look on her face when Adorabat saw Mao Mao roll away from the beast, blood splattering the cobblestone streets. The absolute raw fear that bloomed in her innocent eyes when she saw Mao Mao struggle to keep standing - to keep fighting.

Badgerclops was almost used to it.

Adorabat was _not_.

Badgerclops knew the bat particularly looked up to Mao Mao - a fact that never truly bothered Badgerclops. He saw the bright, sparkly look in her eyes whenever Mao Mao performed some over-the-top acrobatic move on a monster or the way she eagerly perked her ears when Mao Mao rambled on about the proper way to be a hero. So, he could only think about how much it scared her when she was met with the gruesome sight of her supposedly invincible hero bleeding out before her.

After all, Adorabat was only _five years old_.

But, despite her ( _very_ ) young age, Adorabat did seem to overcome her fear. Badgerclops had to admit he was proud of how she handled everything so far. Even though she was scared, Adorabat obediently did everything Badgerclops told her to do, and she stubbornly refused to leave Mao Mao's side. She may have been only five years old, but the violent, psychotic bat could be somewhat mature when she wanted to be. If Badgerclops wasn't worried that he'd enlargen Mao Mao's already huge ego, he would tell the cat just how much Adorabat has grown since learning under him.

Badgerclops eased himself onto the edge of Mao Mao's bunk, stiffening as he tried to shift his weight to his other foot. He focused his gaze upon where he assumed the feline's resting body was -

 _Huh_.

Badgerclops blinked, internally pondering whether the darkness was playing tricks on his mind. Then, he leaned closer and squinted his eye at Mao Mao's bed.

The usually neat tucked in sheets were in utter disarray and the pillow that Mao Mao used to prop up his foot - Badgerclops' pillow - was lying dejectedly on the floorboards. Mao Mao's extra weapons stuck out from underneath the mattress, their sharp edges glinting in the lamp's weak light.

The only thing missing from the bed was Mao Mao.

Badgerclops allowed himself to drop to the floor, the wooden floorboards below producing a slight creak, and the corners of his lips tilted downwards at the sight of Mao Mao's vacant bed. Badgerclops briefly scoured the room with his eye, as if he expected Mao Mao to be hiding in the shadows. When that proved fruitless, he sighed and looked towards the doorway.

Maybe, Mao Mao went to the bathroom or something.

At least, he hoped he did.

Badgerclops highly doubted that Mao Mao would be able to go too far with his leg in its current condition. So, there wasn't any other place the cat could've gone. At the same time, however, Mao Mao's sudden disappearance made him feel explicitly uneasy, almost nervous.

Though, it could be possible that he was merely overreacting.

Badgerclops nodded to himself.

The events of the battle earlier may just have him on edge. Mao Mao probably snuck out of bed to either use the bathroom or … the kitchen. Maybe, he was in the kitchen. Badgerclops did note that, during the movie, Mao Mao scarcely touched any of the popcorn. Though, Mao Mao wasn't someone who preferred junk food, except for the occasional bite of cobbler or bag of Cheddar Paws. Even so, Badgerclops did expect him to eat more seeing as none of them had eaten since lunch.

Badgerclops' gut loudly wailed again, reminding its owner of his primary mission. Badgerclops cast one last glance at Mao Mao's bed before he tiptoed towards the doorway, cringing whenever his foot landed on a creaky floorboard. He doubted the sound would wake Adorabat up, but it never hurt to be careful.

Badgerclops stepped through the threshold of the doorway, and he was dimly aware of the fact that the temperature in the hallway was a few degrees lower. He waited for his eye to adjust and, then, he craned his neck to look in the direction of the bathroom. From where he stood, Badgerclops couldn't quite see any light shining from underneath the door, or hear any kind of noise coming from there. He briefly considered going and knocking on the bathroom door before Badgerclops shook the thought from his head.

He didn't want to crowd Mao Mao.

Whenever he "bothered" Mao Mao, the cat would immediately become testy. The last time Badgerclops supposedly hassled Mao Mao, the cat retaliated by slicing his arm off. It was his cybernetic arm, mind you, but it was still an unpleasant sensation.

Besides, Mao Mao was a grown(ish) cat.

With that thought in mind, Badgerclops allowed his eye to remain on the bathroom door for a split second longer before he headed towards the kitchen.

* * *

Badgerclops ambled into the room, briefly pausing in the doorway to cast a sweeping glance around the room. The kitchen was gently illuminated by the small beams of moonlight pouring into the living room, alighting certain surfaces in a pale white glow. However, some corners of the kitchen were still shrouded in darkness, the thin strips of light too weak to banish them. The kitchen table sat amid the kitchen, its empty chairs pushed in and around it haphazardly.

Badgerclops sighed; out of relief or worry, he wasn't sure.

Mao Mao wasn't here.

Badgerclops sauntered across the room, moving towards the cupboards at the far edge of the kitchen. He easily stretched his arm up to one of the cupboards, and he pulled it open. Badgerclops reached into the very back of the cabinet, plucking a large bag of Cheddar Paws from where it hid behind a stack of dusty canned vegetables.

They were most definitely Mao Mao's - because, honestly, who else would think to hide them there? The cat must've assumed that no one would deem it reasonable to look behind the intimidating wall of canned lima beans - which Badgerclops and Adorabat, collectively, disliked - in order to find his secret stash. But, Badgerclops liked to think that he wasn't an absolute amateur when it came to food; he'd discovered the hiding place when he bumped his hand against the cans and knocked them over.

Badgerclops glimpsed at the cover of the bag, taking in the brightly colored words and huge iconic paw-print on the front before he tugged the lip of the bag open. The sharp scent of artificial cheese instantly tickled his nose, and Badgerclops wasted no time digging his hand into the contents of the bag. He popped a couple of Cheddar Paws into his awaiting mouth and bit down, the sweet familiar tang of cheddar exploding across his tastebuds. Badgerclops stood there for a moment, savoring the flavor, and then directed himself towards the refrigerator, licking the leftover cheese residue off of his fingers. Badgerclops yanked the handle of the fridge and the door burst open, yellowish-white light spilling out from within. He bowed his head into the fridge, leaning in to search for something to drink-

**_Thwack!_ **

Badgerclops' body involuntarily startled at the sudden noise, his head - for what was, hopefully, the last time tonight - inadvertently smacking against the top of the interior of the refrigerator. This time, he permitted himself to yelp at the painful sensation, and he quickly dragged his head out of the fridge. In his hurry, the opened bag of Cheddar Paws slipped from his grasp, a small orange paw-like sea of perfectly good snacks tumbling across the floorboards everywhere. Badgerclops pouted at the unfortunate sight, his newly unoccupied hand gingerly rubbing the knot that was most likely forming on his battered head.

"Seriously, man," Badgerclops quietly whined, eyeing his discarded snack. Would the five-second rule still apply here-?

**_Thwack!_ **

Badgerclops stiffened at the repeated sound, the fur on his body unconsciously rising in response. He tore his gaze away from the wasted Cheddar Paws and, instead, focused it on the surrounding area.

What was _that_?

Badgerclops slowly closed the fridge, and he immediately regretted it when the extra light in the area was whisked away. Despite that, Badgerclops took a step forward and strained his ears, paying extra attention to his surroundings. Then, barely even a minute later -

**_Thwack!_ **

Badgerclops furrowed his brow, confused. Then, a sudden thought entered his mind, and a frown tugged at his lips.

Was... was someone trying to _break_ _in_?

Badgerclops carefully navigated his way through the sea of spilled snacks, his mind and body now on high alert.

Was it the Sky Pirates again?

Several months ago, the wannabe villains tried - and, _somehow_ , succeeded - to sneak into the Sheriff's Department. The pirates managed to sneak into the brand new couch that Mao Mao bought - something that he was still upset about - and nearly ate all of Badgerclops' various sauces. After that incident, Badgerclops finally decided to repair their security system - you know, after Mao Mao _broke_ _it_ \- and he installed several new security cameras in and around the house just to make sure that something like that didn't happen again.

Badgerclops messed with his arm for a second, and a small holographic screen popped into existence before his eye, giving off a soft green glow. He used the light to slowly creep into the living room, splitting his focus between looking for any possible intruders within and outside the house. To his surprise, Badgerclops found that no one was lurking around the outside of the house; each security camera feed came up empty. The same went for the ones planted in various spots throughout the house; each camera revealing vacant hallways and one slumbering Adorabat.

So, no one was trying to break in.

Badgerclops banished the holographic screen, and he scratched his head in confusion. Then, where was the sound coming from-?

**_Thwack!_ **

Badgerclops froze and something akin to dread settled into the pit of his stomach, temporarily erasing his hunger. He craned his neck towards the entrance towards the Dojo, staring at the door that was slightly ajar. The Dojo was also the only spot around the entirety of the house that Badgerclops neglected to set up any security cameras.

Oh _no._

He bit back a groan.

He _wouldn't._

Badgerclops took a step in the direction of the Dojo and, instead of continuing, he paused and drew back, warily eyeing the door. If he was right - and he most likely _was_ \- then he probably shouldn't pop his head out the door. It would be best to go around through the front; that would at least give him the chance to confirm his suspicions.

He twisted his body around and headed towards the front door, bumping into the couch and several other objects in the dark along his way. Once he reached the first part of his destination, Badgerclops pulled the door open, eliciting a small creak from the wooden door. He stepped out onto their small front porch, and he closed the door behind him. Almost instantly, Badgerclops found himself shivering in the frigid temperature, the cold seemingly settling upon him like an icy blanket. The seasons in the valley had been slowly entering into that of wintertime, and Badgerclops wouldn't be surprised if he saw some snow around the valley in the next upcoming weeks.

After a few seconds of standing in the cold, Badgerclops' body grew accustomed to the cold; his fur finally succeeding in blocking out the worst of it. Briefly, he allowed his eye to wander out towards the valley in the short distance, and he was unsurprised when he saw that - except for the streetlights - the houses were completely dark. It was pretty late, after all.

Badgerclops yawned, his breath visible in a cloud of mist before his eye.

 _Really_ late.

He turned his head to the right, and his gaze immediately fixated upon the Dojo. The towering, wooden hut-like structure sat against the small cliffside that their headquarters was located upon, dimly lit. Badgerclops recalled installing small lights within the Dojo as per Mao Mao's request; the cat wanted to be able to train whenever he particularly felt like it. Apparently, that meant at night, too. At the moment, the miniature spotlights blanketed the training arena in a warm golden hue. And, if Badgerclops looked closely, he swore he could spot a black-and-red shape dancing around, and a bright golden light tinkling like a star under the lights. He quietly groaned at the unfortunately common sight, a scowl appearing upon his face. For a split second, Badgerclops pondered whether or not he should simply slip back inside - you know, where it was _warm_ \- and salvage what little he could of his snack. But, then that familiar feeling prickled unpleasantly in the back of his mind, and he discovered that he was unable to force himself to return inside.

Maybe, _this_ is what woke him up.

Badgerclops exhaled, fine mist once again curling from his lips, and he began his small trek toward the Dojo. As he approached the side of the training arena, Badgerclops crouched down towards the ground, the browning grass lightly tickling him as he peered through the thick bars of the banister. His line of sight instantly settled upon the small feline form of Mao Mao training vigorously with his usual golden weapon.

Mao Mao spun and danced around in the large space, his body seemingly moving rhythmically to music only he could hear. With each practiced swing of his sword, Mao Mao alternated between his right and left hand, slashing any and all imaginary enemies in his way. When that grew too tiring, Mao Mao would temporarily sheath his sword and use his fists on the wooden dummy. He would then strike the post-like object in different spots and react appropriately whenever the training item retaliated in response, ducking underneath the short, stubby sticks that came his way. As Mao Mao moved, Badgerclops could faintly hear the cat mumbling to himself underneath his breath. What Mao Mao was saying, the cybernetic badger wasn't sure. He did know, however, that unlike all the other times that he'd witnessed Mao Mao working on his moves, this time something seemed... _off_.

Typically, Mao Mao was extraordinarily agile and swift. These particular traits were what made their original duo team-up work for the beginning of their partnership. Badgerclops was the designated tech guy and, occasionally, the muscle. And, what Mao Mao lacked in strength and size, the cat made up with his quick reflexes, flexibility, and his large endurance. Every move that Mao Mao made was always precise, and the cat rarely broke a sweat. But now, as the seconds ticked by, Mao Mao's breaths grew heavier - _louder_. The cat began to actively huff and puff, each exhale appearing before his face in a fine cloud of smoke-like mist. Even his movements were becoming more strained with each step and, every now and then, Mao Mao stumbled, struggling to properly maintain his stance on his own two feet. Badgerclops' eye focused upon the blatant problem for feline's suddenly skewed balance; Mao Mao's left leg.

A thick dressing was - _painstakingly_ , Badgerclops thought - wrapped tightly around the cat's battle wound, shielding the long, ugly cut from view. Unlike when Bagderclops first bound Mao Mao's leg, the bandage was now turning a deep dark red. If he didn't know any better, Bagderclops would've thought that the bandage was a part of Mao Mao's attire. With each and every step, the pristine white gauze slowly became overrun with red, blood copiously seeping from Mao Mao's injury. Soon, the red liquid began to drip upon the scratched floorboards of the Dojo, dotting the surface of the wood underneath Mao Mao's feet. Despite this fact, Mao Mao continued to exert himself, gritting his teeth and ignoring his body's obvious weakness.

Badgerclops contemplated simply stepping in at this point; popping out from his hiding spot to try and persuade Mao Mao to stop. And, if the cat refused to listen, he'd go with plan B; throw Mao Mao over his shoulder and carry him inside. But, a sudden thought stopped him.

Why was Mao Mao out here - in the _middle of the night_ \- training himself to the bone when he was injured only a few short hours ago?

Badgerclops knew Mao Mao fancied pushing himself and testing his limitations. At the same time, Badgerclops also knew that the feline acknowledged how much was _too much,_ and Mao Mao usually placed restrictions on his training. Yet, here he was working out as if his life depended upon it, neglecting his current injured state. For that reason, the cybernetic badger hesitated; if Mao Mao was working through something, then should Badgerclops really stop him?

Mao Mao didn't outwardly talk about his feelings; that was just a basic fact. If something was bothering Mao Mao, then there were two things he did about it. Either, the black feline would simply bottle up his emotions until they exploded, or he'd use training as an outlet for his feelings. Badgerclops could still recall the times during the beginning of their partnership when Mao Mao would angrily slice through several trees like they were mere sheets of paper on a particularly bad day. Heck, he did when his dad unexpectedly popped in. (Mao Mao stated that doing that helped him sharpen his sword, but Badgerclops knew otherwise). Badgerclops surmised that it something to do with the way he was raised. Even though Mao Mao constantly - and Badgerclops meant _constantly -_ chatted about his legendary family of heroes, Badgerclops could tell that Mao Mao was forced to put aside his emotions in order to become what he desired the most. But, even so, Badgerclops was happy to announce that ever since they agreed to stay in Pure Heart Valley, the cat seemed to be more willing to express his inner feelings.

Badgerclops watched Mao Mao pummel the wooden dummy, his ears perking at the small battle cry the cat gave as he fought against the inanimate object. Then, before he could even talk himself out of it, Badgerclops sat upon the cold ground, and he leaned his back against the brown bars. From where he sat, it would be difficult for Mao Mao to spot him unless the cat knew where to look.

He'll wait.

Whenever Mao Mao felt like he'd properly worked out whatever was on his mind, then - and only _then_ \- Badgerclops would lead the cat back inside. It was sort of an intimate thing that developed between the two of them; to pick the other up when they needed it. It started when Mao Mao held his hand out for Badgerclops when the cybernetic badger was left to burn, and it has continued ever since. So, he'll wait a little longer, even if it meant sitting out in the cold. Also, he was afraid of what might happen if he were to abruptly interrupt Mao Mao in the midst of whatever it was he was doing. The absolute last thing he wanted was Mao Mao taking a swing at his head. Besides, it probably wouldn't take that long for Mao Mao to completely tire himself out anyway.

* * *

Badgerclops' head steadily sagged towards his chest, soft snores drifting uninhibited from his open mouth. All of the sudden there was a loud **_thwack_** , and the sound abruptly startled him from his accidental nap. Badgerclops' head snapped up, his neck protesting the unexpected movement. He blinked his eye, rapidly, disoriented. For a split second, he was confused as to where he currently was before a quick glance around his environment jogged his memory. He still outside their HQ, his body leaning up against the exterior of the Dojo. From behind him, the cybernetic badger could still hear Mao Mao clashing against his invisible enemies.

Oh, right.

He was waiting for Mao Mao.

Badgerclops yawned mutely, his maw stretching wide to accommodate the involuntary action and a hand scrubbing at his tired eye. He leaned back against the Dojo, and he found himself gazing upwards. When he first came outside, the sky was almost navy blue, a few brave stars twinkling amongst the heavens. Now, however, dozens of stars littered the sky, shining brightly against a black backdrop.

How long has he been out here?

Badgerclops trembled, the cold - which he'd been ignoring up until now - digging through the several thick layers of his fur and clinging to his skin. His body felt somewhat numb, his fingers and toes stiff from icy temperature.

 _Too long,_ his mind supplied.

Seriously, how could Mao Mao stand being out here so long?

Badgerclops craned his neck, and he looked between the bars at Mao Mao, interested to see what the cat was doing now. At the moment, the feline was firmly swinging his sword at some other inanimate objects he set up, effectively slicing through them like they were nothing. However, each one of Mao Mao's moves were significantly more sluggish than they were before. It was like the cat's body finally realized that it was getting tired, yet Mao Mao himself kept pushing it, his face locked in a permanent grimace. Badgerclops had to give him some credit; the guy really was a glutton for punishment.

But now, maybe enough was enough.

Badgerclops stretched, his back popping from the movement, and he crossed his arms against his chest for warmth.

On a regular day, Badgerclops might've been more tolerant of Mao Mao and his inability to properly communicate what's wrong with him. But, right this second, he was tired, achy, cold, and - honestly - a little annoyed. Mao Mao just got injured - in a very _bad_ way, he should mention. The absolute last thing the cat needed to be doing was questionably stupid things in his current condition, anyway. Badgerclops had only allowed it to continue for so long because he thought that Mao Mao would've worked out whatever was going with him. But, that obviously wasn't going to happen any time soon. It was nothing short of a miracle that Mao Mao hadn't already found some way to hurt himself even worse

Suddenly, as if the universe itself was listening closely, Badgerclops jolted at the loud _**thud**_ that resonated from behind, the commotion replacing the usual _**thwack**_ that he'd gotten used to. Stillness immediately followed afterward and trepidation pooled into Badgerclops' stomach. He tarried for a bit, waiting for Mao Mao to make another sound - _any_ kind of sound - before his curiosity got the better of him, and the cybernetic badger sat up and twisted his body around.

Where Mao Mao was originally brandishing his sword mere moments ago, the black feline now laid hunched over the scratched wood of the floorboards. His bright red padded knees were pressed into the wood, and his trembling arms weakly supported the upper half of his body. Between his arms, his forehead was lowered towards the floor, and the cat's eyes - at least from what Badgerclops could tell - were squeezed shut, bright green acid-like eyes hidden from view. Mao Mao's iconic red cape was draped over his heaving back, the red fabric bouncing up and down as a result of his heavy breathing.

Badgerclops swallowed hard, a thick lump of unease developing in the back of his throat. Very slowly, he climbed to his feet, casting a concerned eye on the strangely still cat. The cybernetic badger silently pondered his next step but, before he could even think about implementing it, Mao Mao shakily peeled himself off of the floor. Badgerclops prayed underneath his breath for the feline to simply give up and go back inside. Instead, the cat unsteadily staggered to his feet, wincing once his left foot brushed against the floor. He scooped up his sword from where the weapon slipped from his grasp when he fell. Then, Mao Mao brought his sword up in the air, his hand quivering, and he continued where he left off in his exercises.

_Enough._

Badgerclops snuck around the edge of the Dojo, keeping his eye firmly trained on Mao Mao. The cat had yet to notice him, too focused on forcing his tired body to move. Badgerclops stepped up onto the entrance to the training arena, and he stared at the cat's red-caped back before taking a deep breath, preparing himself to call out to the cat.

"Mao Mao-"

Before he could get the rest of his sentence out, the damp black fur on Mao Mao's body rose. The cat abruptly twisted around, and his hand shot out -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, see you guys next time!


	4. Intervention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Badgerclops easily scooted Geraldine far away from Mao Mao's loose hands; the last thing he wanted was the feline attempting to stab him with it, after all. Then, Badgerclops gingerly plucked the cat from the floor, and he ceremoniously slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The second Mao Mao's small body brushed against him, an army of goosebumps raced across Badgerclops' body. Mao Mao was a literal block of the ice, and it was a large indicator of how long the cat had been outside. Mao Mao vigorously squirmed underneath the pressure of Badgerclops' cybernetic arm, his feet just mere inches away from actually kicking the badger in the face.
> 
> "Badgerclops!" Mao Mao yelled, his voice breaking in the midst of saying the badger's name. If Badgerclops wasn't currently tired and at the end of his rope, he might've considered pointing it out. "Put me down!"
> 
> "No way, dude," Badgerclops said, firmly, and he left it at that.
> 
> Mao Mao, apparently, wasn't happy with that particular response. With a loud growl, the black feline balled up his small hands into fists and repeatedly slammed them against Badgerclops' back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back, guys! I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this newest chapter so I hope you like it! As usual, feel free to leave behind some comments on what you thought of this chapter. Enjoy!

Badgerclops' eye widened in shock, and he just registered the familiar small, sharp object shooting from Mao Mao's palm towards him.

"Whoa, dude!"

He gave an undignified shriek, and he quickly forced his exhausted body into a duck. A light gust of wind brushed against the disheveled fur on top of his head and, somewhere behind him, there was a dull **thunk.** Badgerclops slowly craned his neck around to look at the source of the sound, his heart beating loudly in his ears. Once his gaze settled upon the mystery item, his eye nearly bugged out of his head and his jaw dropped down slightly. Embedded deep into the thick wooden beam - right where his head originally was, Badgerclops noted - was none other than a large ninja star. The pointy tips of the small, lethal projectile glinted brightly in the lights of the Dojo, and a small orange halo encircled a small black drawing in the middle of it. Badgerclops gradually rose to his feet, the general terror that came with almost being impaled dissipating as quickly as it appeared. (Yet, another side effect of trekking with Mao Mao). Once he stood firmly on his own two feet, the cybernetic badger stared accusingly at the feline.

"What the heck, man! You could've killed me!"

Mao Mao gawked back at him, seemingly shocked to see the badger standing there. Now that Badgerclops was actually face-to-face with the feline, he could blatantly see how fatigued Mao Mao looked. Red lightly tinged the corners of Mao Mao's eyes, loudly announcing to anyone who peered at the cat that he had yet to get any proper rest. Sweat sprinkled Mao Mao's forehead, rolling down the sides of his face in rivers. His form trembled in front of Badgerclops - although the cybernetic badger was unsure if it was from cold or exertion - and the cat appeared extremely tense. Once Mao Mao recognized there was no imminent threat, his shoulders slumped and his hand dropped from wherever he got the ninja star. 

"Sorry," Mao Mao huffed out, his breaths heavy. "You just, uh, surprised me."

"Yeah," Badgerclops agreed, shortly, and he gestured dramatically at the ninja star. "That makes two of us."

A sheepish expression briefly crossed Mao Mao's face before it was wiped away and replaced with a frown. "Well, you should've knocked or something."

Badgerclops inhaled deeply because he, honestly, _did not want to have a fight_ _with the feline right now_ , especially when he's exhausted, and it's been a long day. Instead, he exhaled and silently regarded the cat, tentatively chewing on his next words. "Mao, dude, what are you doing?"

Mao Mao furrowed his brow. "What?"

The cybernetic badger pointed a firm finger at the night sky, the stars twinkling brightly in the atmosphere. "It's the middle of the night, and you're training, man?"

Mao Mao shrugged his shoulders, dismissively, temporarily sheathing his sword. "So?"

"So," Badgerclops drew out. "You're injured and, instead of resting, you're messing around?"

" _Excuse me_ ?" Mao Mao hissed, offendedly. Badgerclops internally winced; he probably could've phrased that better. "Messing around? I'm _not_ messing around! It's called _training_ Badgerclops. Something you would've known if you actually did it!"

"Mao Mao, I'm not trying to insult you," the cybernetic badger stated, calmly trying to defuse the situation. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't be doing this right now."

"I think it's a perfect time," Mao Mao insisted, crossing his arms. He almost seemed to challenge Badgerclops. "So, I don't see the problem."

"The _problem_ is that you're obviously tired, hurt, and _oh!_ Should I mention that you're _bleeding.?_ "

Badgerclops waved his hand at Mao Mao's leg, and the cat followed his hand to look at it. The limb in question was partially concealed in several layers of white bandages which were red with saturated blood. Several small rivers of the life-giving liquid dripped onto the wooden floorboards, leaving red sticky patches. Mao Mao's expression shifted to something unreadable at the sight, and his already pale face - something that Badgerclops just noticed - seemed to grow paler.

"Oh," he murmured, his voice somewhat distant. His expression blanked out, and the cat's eyes slowly became unfocused. The sight uneased Badgerclops, and he considered saying something when Mao Mao suddenly moved. The feline shook his head, supposedly returning from wherever he was, and he placed a shaky hand on the hilt of Geraldine. Subconsciously, Mao Mao drew his injured leg out of the light and into the shadow of his cape. "It'll be fine."

The cybernetic badger just barely resisted the urge to face-palm. He was quickly approaching his limit for how long he could deal with Mao Mao's attitude before he absolutely _lost it_ on him. Breathing out through his nose, Badgerclops took a large step forward. "Dude, is that all you know how to say?" Mao Mao opened his mouth, but Badgerclops quickly cut him off. "You look like you're about to pass out. That's _not_ exactly the picture of _fine._ "

"I'm not going to _pass out_ !" Mao Mao demanded, hotly, gritting his sharp teeth. His left hand wrapped around the tip of his worn sheath, and he slid out a little bit of his sword with his thumb against the hilt. Badgerclops had a sinking feeling that this particular conversation was going in the exact opposite direction he wanted it to. "And, I'll prove it to you that I'm _fine._ "

Mao Mao shifted his weight, pulling Geraldine all the way out of her resting place. It wasn't hard to tell that the crazy cat fully intended on continuing where he left off in his "training." 

"Mao, no, stop. Just give it a rest and come inside."

Mao Mao ignored his advice, and he began the usual routine with his sword, slicing the empty air aggressively. Badgerclops threw his hands up into the air, exasperated with the current turn of events. Maybe he should just leave Mao Mao to his own devices. If the feline wanted to be an unappreciative jerk, then why should Badgerclops help him? Besides, his bed had been steadily beckoning him for the past hour or so, and the bruises he obtained from the fight were starting to catch up to him. Badgerclops gave the cat one last hard stare - which was, unsurprisingly, ignored as well - before he turned around, content on leaving the suicidal cat behind. It wasn't like he cared about Mao Mao's well-being or _anything_ -

There was a short sharp cry of pain from behind him - from _Mao Mao,_ and Badgerclops abruptly twisted on his heel to look at the cat. He was just in time to witness Mao Mao's injured leg crumble underneath him, and the feline, once again, fell to his padded knees where he then stayed. Badgerclops frowned, and he paused for a moment. Sleep tugged him in one direction, and the ominous feeling pulled him towards the downed cat. The two sensations briefly battled it out in his mind before the victor was announced, and Badgerclops found himself walking back over to Mao Mao.

"Yep," Badgerclops said, sarcastically, once he reached Mao Mao's side. "You totally proved that to me."

He patiently waited for Mao Mao to reply; for the usually hot-headed retort from the cat. To his extreme surprise, there was no immediate verbal response from Mao Mao. In fact, the only sound in the surrounding area was the gentle chirp of several crickets and Mao Mao's constant heavy breathing. Badgerclops rose an eyebrow, and he squatted down to try and peer at the cat's downturn face.

"Mao Mao?"

At the sound of his name, Mao Mao finally reacted. The feline picked his head up and, wearily, looked at Badgerclops, several pants slipping through his lips. Yet, Mao Mao remained unresponsive to his comment. Badgerclops felt his general annoyance with Mao Mao drain from his body and the concern that he had shoved on the back burner suddenly reignited. 

Plan B, it is.

"Alright," Badgerclops stated, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. "You're done."

"What?" Mao Mao finally croaked out. 

"You're going inside. _Now_." Badgerclops declared, firmly. It wasn't often that he used a commanding tone; he left that kind of thing up to Mao Mao. But, in this case, it was absolutely necessary to bust it out. "And, I'm redoing your bandages."

He leaned forward, stretching his hands out to pick the cat up. Badgerclops didn't want to give Mao Mao enough time to properly react to what he was about to do. However, even in his worn-out state, Mao Mao still quickly caught on to what Badgerclops was doing, and the feline vainly struggled against the badger's larger hands. He went so far as to try and reach for his sword - 

"Wha - _no!_ "

But, it was too late.

Badgerclops easily scooted Geraldine far away from Mao Mao's loose hands; the last thing he wanted was the feline attempting to stab him with it, after all. Then **,** Badgerclops gingerly plucked the cat from the floor, and he ceremoniously slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The second Mao Mao's small body brushed against him, an army of goosebumps raced across Badgerclops' body. Mao Mao was a literal block of the ice, and it was a large indicator of how long the cat had been outside. Mao Mao vigorously squirmed underneath the pressure of Badgerclops' cybernetic arm, his feet just mere inches away from actually kicking the badger in the face.

" _Badgerclops_!" Mao Mao yelled, his voice breaking in the midst of saying the badger's name. If Badgerclops wasn't currently tired and at the end of his rope, he might've considered pointing it out. "Put me _down_!"

"No way, dude," Badgerclops said, firmly, and he left it at that.

Mao Mao, apparently, wasn't happy with that particular response. With a loud growl, the black feline balled up his small hands into fists and repeatedly slammed them against Badgerclops' back. Except for the few strikes that dug into the tender contusions along the spine of his back, Mao Mao’s punches lacked their usual strength, and they felt like mere taps. Badgerclops was able to easily ignore them - and Mao Mao's half-formed protests - and he strolled towards the entrance of their home. Mao Mao’s assault - if Badgerclops could really call it that - died down after a few seconds, and he limply flopped against Badgerclops’ shoulders, mumbling inaudible words underneath his breath. The simple fact that Mao Mao had given up his escape attempt so quickly worried Badgerclops, and he, unconsciously, quickened his pace. 

He peeled open the door of their home with his unoccupied hand, and the stored warmth from within peppered Badgerclops' face. He sighed, contentedly, and he stepped inside, allowing the door to close shut behind him. Badgerclops let the heat soak into his body, melting away the cold from his weary body. The only remnant of the frigid temperature of the outside world was Mao Mao's frozen body pressed against his shoulder. Speaking of the feline, Mao Mao had fallen silent, and Badgerclops couldn't help but wonder if he'd gone back on his earlier statement and passed out.

That particular hypothesis was quickly proven incorrect when, as Badgerclops tried to make his way through the blackness of the living room, he stumbled over the small step near the entrance to the Dojo. Luckily, he was able to right himself before the two of them ended up in a heap on the floor. 

“You better not _drop me_ ” Mao Mao suddenly warned Badgerclops from over his shoulder, startling the cybernetic badger and loudly verifying that he was very much still _awake_ “You need to watch where you’re going.”

Badgerclops opened his mouth, fully prepared to inform the feline that he was the only individual in their small group who possessed the ability of night vision. Well, there was Adorabat but the way she explained it, she could only see in the dark by screaming at the top of her lungs and that was not something Badgerclops was practically a fan of. Instead, the cybernetic badger swallowed his sarcastic retort, and he settled for satisfying his slight desire for revenge by lightly jostling Mao Mao. The action drew a short yelp and another weak punch from the cat, but Badgerclops merely disregarded them in favor of heading towards their couch. They made it there without another incident, and Badgerclops lifted Mao Mao from his temporary perch on his shoulder and delicately placed him on the dark pink cushions. Mao Mao gave a small grant from the force of the light impact and, before the feline could say anything else, Badgerclops pointed a stern finger at him. Or, at least where he hoped that Mao Mao was because the cat was literally a dark blob in the darkness, except for his bright green eyes. 

“ _Stay,_ ” Badgerclops commanded.

Mao Mao’s eyes narrowed, and it didn’t take a genius to realize that he was firmly glaring at the cybernetic badger. “I’m not some kind of dog,” he spat. 

_Then, don’t act like one,_ Badgerclops muttered within his mind, rolling his eye. 

He briefly considered voicing this particular line of thought to the cat, but he thought better of it and decided to ignore Mao Mao and his usual bad attitude. Instead, Badgerclops left Mao Mao to stew on the couch and tried to navigate his way through the dark for the light switch. But, when that proved to be way too far away for him - both because he was tired and because he didn't trust Mao Mao to not make an escape attempt - he simply went for the lamp standing innocently near the couch. Badgerclops tugged the brown chain hanging from underneath the lampshade, and a warm golden glow enveloped a small portion of the living room, giving him just enough light to see Mao Mao's slumped form on the couch. 

Badgerclops strolled back over the feline, and he was pleased to find that the first aid kit still sat upon their coffee table where he left it. As Badgerclops kneeled in his temporary spot between the couch and the table, he could feel the back of his head practically burning under the force of Mao Mao's glare. It was a sensation that the cybernetic badger had become numb to, and he was easily able to ignore it. He focused his attention upon the first aid kit and his clawed fingers popped the silver clasps at the side with a loud **_click_ ** Badgerclops scoured the innards of the small medical box, searching for any extra bandages and antibiotic ointment. He also made sure to keep his ears peeled for any extraneous movement from Mao Mao in case the feline would take the opportunity to make a break for it while his back was turned. Thankfully, that never happened - because heaven knows Badgerclops was not going to chase after him - and he was able to gather up the medical supplies and turn back to Mao Mao. With the dim light bouncing off of the cat's face, Badgerclops noticed that, underneath the hero's harsh stare, Mao Mao's face was several shades paler than it previously was. 

_It's probably the blood loss,_ Badgerclops internally mused.

He'd best get Mao Mao patched up - _again -_ and strap him down to his bed. 

Just as a _precaution._

"Alright," Badgerclops began, quietly. He held out his flesh hand to the cat, the palm facing upward. "Let me see your leg again, Mao."

Mao Mao merely stared at his hand in distaste, and he drew his bleeding limb closer to himself. "No."

Badgerclops groaned. "Mao, _please."_

" _N_ _o."_

The cybernetic badger just barely resisted the distinct urge to simply snatch Mao Mao's injured leg up and fix it himself - with or without the cat's permission. The last thing he wanted was the feline fighting against him and making everything worse than they already were. But, he has to admit it; Mao Mao appeared to be a lot more stubborn than before. Then again, there had been one deciding factor that had kept the cat from fussing so much. 

_Adorabat._

Whenever the young bat had been around, Mao Mao's attitude shifted, and he did whatever it took to make the raw concern in Adorabat's big eyes dissipate. That included reluctantly letting Badgerclops bandage his wounds. Now, however, with Adorabat safely slumbering in their bedroom, Mao Mao seemingly believed that he no longer had a reason to drop his guard. Badgerclops imagined that, that particular behavior of Mao Mao's involved what he saw in Adorabat. 

_"You remind me of me-"_

Badgerclops suddenly wanted nothing more than to wake Adorabat from her peaceful sleep. If he did, then maybe Adorabat could help him - wait, _no._ Adorabat had already seen enough terrible things today, and Badgerclops didn't feel like adding onto that. Besides, the young bat needed her rest; she had skewl tomorrow - or was it today? 

Badgerclops moaned. Man, he needed some sleep. "Mao Mao, _come on_ It's the middle of the night. You're bleeding _everywhere_ And, we're both tired." Mao Mao loudly scoffed at the last part of his sentence like the badger had told some sort of funny joke. Yet, here Badgerclops was, not laughing. "Just let me get this over with so we can both get some sleep."

When Mao Mao still refused to budge, Badgerclops slyly added, " _Unless_ you'd rather have me get Adorabat, so she can help out.

Those specific words finally reached Mao Mao's stubborn ears, and the feline's stare only seemed to harden, a scowl pulling at the corner of his lips. "You wouldn't dare."

Badgerclops skillfully hid his growing smirk behind the large hand he placed upon his chin, pretending to mull over Mao Mao's challenge. He had the feline right where he wanted him. "I don't know, dude. I'm _preeety_ tired." 

Mao Mao's eyes narrowed at his response, the warm glow illuminating from the lamp causing them to glint sharply. The feline silently explored the cybernetic badger's face for a few seconds - searching for what, Badgerclops wasn't quite sure - and, after apparently finding whatever he was looking for, Mao Mao begrudgingly lowered his injured leg into Badgerclops' awaiting hand with a singular huff. 

" _Fin_ _e."_

Badgerclops grinned a bit, happy that he was the victor of the minor standoff between him and Mao Mao, and - while swallowing back a comment that most likely would've reversed everything he'd accomplished in the past minute - he gingerly grasped the cold limb in his palm. Upon closer inspection of Mao Mao's bandaged leg, Badgerclops found the small smile slipping and being replaced with a thick grimace at the worrisome sight of the previously white bandages soaked through with blood. He barely suppressed the strong urge to shudder at the unsettling sensation - of which he was becoming annoyingly familiar with - of slick, warm blood spilling into his thick brown fur. After struggling to pay it no heed, the cybernetic badger used a clawed finger to slice through the bandages, and he slowly unwound the dressings in a counterclockwise rotation. The scarlet-colored cloth gathered in a small mound of red at the foot of their dark pink sofa. As they fell away, the soaked bandages constantly caught on Mao Mao's exposed flesh, and he could feel the cat's leg muscles fluttering under his fingers in response. When he snuck a quick glance at Mao Mao, Badgerclops noticed that the feline's expression was pinched. Finally, the rest of the bandages came undone, and he, once again, found himself face-to-face with the true extent of Mao Mao's injury. As soon as his eye honed onto the wound, Badgerclops felt his chest tighten. 

It looked _worse._

Blood heavily welled up from the deep crevices of the tender wound, matting and darkening the already black fur alongside the cut. Around the edges of the injury, Badgerclops could easily see that the naked skin was a dark shade of pink - almost red - and inflamed, a negative difference to what it was originally; a direct result of Mao Mao pushing his unsteady body so much. The sharp odor of copper - and, thankfully, not infection - coated the previously clean air in the room and tickled Badgerclops' nose, making his stomach churn with nausea.

Welp, he wasn't hungry anymore.

Badgerclops slowly picked up his head to look at Mao Mao - completely prepared to say something to him - when he became aware of the cat's current condition. Mao Mao was heavily slumped against the back of their couch, his face still visibly damp with sweat and his eyes closed tight. Badgerclops could tell from Mao Mao's uneven breathing and hard expression that the feline was anything but asleep, and, instead of continuing with his next words, Badgerclops swallowed and went back to working on Mao Mao's leg. He managed to, singlehandedly, wrestle a large wad of gauze from his pile of supplies, and he pressed it against the tidal wave of blood. Badgerclops silently waited until the life-giving liquid slowed to a mere dribble, and then he gently applied more of the odorless ointment to the injury. A scowl plagued his lips when he felt the slight warmth emitting from the wound underneath his fingertips. Briefly ignoring it, Badgerclops wrapped a brand new layer of bandages around Mao Mao's leg and, once he was satisfied, he tied it off. 

"There you go, Mao Mao," Badgerclops declared, loudly, eying the feline as he returned the medical supplies to their home within the first aid kit.

The suddenness of his voice startled the cat out of whatever stupor he'd been in, and his eyes flew open. Mao Mao blinked a few times - like he was disoriented - before he looked at Badgerclops, his eyes glassy and still tinged red. The disconcerting feeling returned in the form of a lump in the back of Badgerclops' throat, and he fought to swallow it down. 

"I'm finished with your leg, man," He repeated, pointing at the said limb. 

Mao Mao stiffly straightened up, checking out his newly bandaged leg. "Thanks, Badgerclops," he murmured, his voice unusually quiet. 

Badgerclops paused, surprised by the sudden gratitude, before bobbing his head. "No problem."

Mao Mao's behavior only seemed to be getting weirder. The feline's gone from being his usual loud, aggressive self to being quiet. 

It felt… _wrong._

Badgerclops closed the lid of the first aid kit, and he lingered there for a moment, thinking - considering - his next course of action before he stood to his feet. Fatigue pulled at his body, tugging him back towards the ground, but he dismissed it in favor of getting down to the bottom of his current problem. 

Usually, Badgerclops would've left Mao Mao and his weird problems alone for another day - or, you know, the _morning_.B ut, with the apparent way that Mao Mao was acting, that was no longer becoming an option. He preferred giving Mao Mao his personal space when he needed it, and he knew it was better if he let Mao Mao come to him of his own free will. However, that concept immediately went out of the window the exact moment Mao Mao concluded that the best time to train himself to the bone was at an ungodly time and while he was still freshly injured. If Badgerclops simply left this alone, he had no doubt in his mind that he'd find Mao Mao lying face down in a pool of his own body fluids in the Dojo.

Mao Mao was strangely _self-destructive_ that way. 

"So," Badgerclops began, slowly, _deliberately._ "Are we gonna talk about before?" 

Mao Mao squinted his eyes, his brow furrowing in response as if he was trying to properly comprehend the question. "Before?" He eventually questioned. 

"Uh, yeah, dude. You were outside in the middle of the night, training in the cold while also - may I mention - being _injured-_ " Badgerclops yawned in the midst of his sentence. "And, even before all that, you've been acting all outta wack. Probably since… _yesterday?_ Yeah, yesterday."

Mao Mao loured, briefly looking Badgerclops up and down with a skeptical gaze before he sharply twisted his head to the side. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Badgerclops rubbed his flesh hand down his haggard face, annoyed. "Mao cut the act. It's literally just you and me now. You're allowed to lower your guard, you know."

Mao Mao sniffled, loudly; for dramatic effect or a side effect of staying outside in the cold too long, who knows. “There’s nothing wrong, Badgerclops.”

“Uh, of course, there’s something wrong, dude,” Badgerclops huffed. “Why else would you be training in the middle of the night?”

Mao Mao pawed, tiredly, at his eyes. “To hone my skills?”

“ _N_ _o._ It’s because you’re upset about something,” Mao Mao’s mouth popped open, ready and willing to disagree with his statement, but Badgerclops quickly interrupted him. “You always train this hard whenever you’re upset about something.”

“I do _not-_ ”

"Uh, yeah ya do, Mao," Badgerclops pressed. "Trust me, you do."

Mao Mao's frown deepened, and he crossed his arms close to his chest. His trademark scarlet red cape hugged his shoulders and, for a split second, Badgerclops swore that he saw the feline shiver underneath the thick fabric. "Badgerclops-"

"Look, Mao Mao," Badgerclops stepped closer to Mao Mao, and he didn't miss the subtle way that the cat stiffened at the movement. "I know you don't want to have this conversation and all and, honestly, neither do I-"

Mao Mao sighed, audibly, and he finally twisted his head towards Badgerclops. Although, his bleary green eyes were primarily focused upon something beyond Badgerclops' current field of vision. "Then, go back to bed," The feline softly murmured, reclining against the lumpy back of the sofa. "I'll be fine."

"I _would,_ " Badgerclops yawned again, his jaw slightly cracking from the force. He waited until he had control over his mouth before continuing with the rest of his sentence. "But, I have a feeling that you'll just continue hurting yourself if I did."

Mao Mao's eyes abruptly snapped to him, his ever-present glare increasing in intensity, and the feline bared his shark-like teeth. "I'm not going to hurt myself. I'm not some kind of _child."_

Badgerclops rose an unimpressed eyebrow and, without even missing a beat, he pointed a finger at the ground. "Those say otherwise."

Mao Mao's eyes smoothly followed Badgerclops' sharp finger to the hardwood floor where he easily found his blood-soaked bandages coiled up in a messy pile. The feline silently studied the dressings, refusing to voice any opinion on the matter.

Badgerclops exhaled through his nose, and he extended his flesh hand towards Mao Mao, intending to place it upon the cat’s stiff shoulder. "Hey, man. I'm not going to judge you or anything with whatever is going on with you. You know, unless it's something embarrassing." The simple tease failed to draw the usual hotheaded response from Mao Mao. "Come on. You can _talk_ to me-"

Mao Mao slapped his hand, knocking it off course from its destination. “There’s nothing to talk about,” he assured.

“ _Seriously_ , man," Badgerclops grumpily rubbed his hand; the slap in itself barely stung, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt his feelings. "Come on. You were training in the middle of the _night-_ "

"Because I wanted to," Mao Mao butted in, tensely, his fists clenched in his lap. "And, I felt like it. That's it."

Badgerclops dropped his hands, his lips thinning out into a line. "You haven't eaten anything."

"I wasn't _hungry._ "

"You slept in this morning, too," Badgerclops pointed out. "And, you never sleep in."

Mao Mao weakly shrugged his shoulders, though they barely moved, and he dismissed the observation. "I was tired."

"Dude," Badgerclops directed a firm finger at the cat. "You can't keep making up excuses."

"I'm _not_ -"

Badgerclops rolled his only eye, a hand coming up to rest on his hip. "Then, explain yesterday's battle to me."

"What about it?"

"Hm, I don't know," Badgerclops said, sarcastically, placing a tentative hand to his chin as if he actually needed a moment to consider Mao Mao's inquiry. "How about the fact that you were totally off your game?"

" _What_?"Mao Mao hissed, low and dangerous. He made it sound like the idea in itself was absolutely ridiculous. 

"Yeah, man. You were, like, constantly spacing out half of the time. And, you weren't - I don't know - acting like yourself." 

Something negative seeped into Mao Mao's facial expression, or, at least, what Badgerclops could see in the dim lighting. "Am I not allowed to have an _off day_?" The cat asked, darkly. The sudden shift in his tone suggested something more than he was verbally saying. 

Something that Badgerclops didn't _like_. 

"What?" Badgerclops took an uneasy step back, staring hard at Mao Mao. "You're more than allowed to have an off day. You know that's not what I meant."

Mao Mao's face didn't change; that unidentifiable look still plastered across his expression. "Then, what did you mean?" 

Badgerclops huffed, and he ran a hand through the fur on top of his head. It was blatantly obvious to anyone peering in on their current discussion that Mao Mao was trying to flip the conversation on him and lead it away from himself. "I just meant that you've been acting differently lately. And, you know, doing stuff you don't usually do. For instance-" 

Badgerclops held up a finger. "During the entire battle, your fighting style was completely off-kilter."

Mao Mao straightened up, glowering at the cybernetic badger. "Badgerclops-"

Badgerclops ignored him and raised another finger, completely focused on getting his point across. "Then, you kept stumbling all over the place. Which you never do-"

Mao Mao aggressively snarled, and he used his arms to push his weary body up onto his feet. His seemingly permanent annoyed expression briefly faltered once he placed some of his body weight upon his wounded leg, but he quickly recovered from the pain and stood firmly before Badgerclops. " _Stop it_ -"

"What the-?" 

Badgerclops instantly neglected his one-sided discussion of Mao Mao's suspicious behavior in favor of setting his sight upon the feline's current idiotic attempt, and he reached out with both hands to stop him. 

"Hey, man! You need to calm down-"

" _No_!" Mao Mao roughly shoved advancing hands away, his body slightly swaying on the spot as a result of the action. "You need to leave me _alone-_ "

Mao Mao unexpectedly paused in the midst of his sentence, the rest of his words seemingly dying on the tip of his tongue. His countenance wavered and his body went rigid, a choked sound slipping between the feline's lips. Badgerclops furrowed his eyebrows at the unusual sound but, before he could voice his thoughts on it, Mao Mao lurched forward, a cough bursting from out of his mouth. Mao Mao's eyes widened in response, and the cat slapped a hand over his mouth.

Badgerclops took a hesitant step forward, his concern intermingling with confusion. What just happened? "Mao Mao?"

At the sound of his name, Mao Mao's eyes slowly met Badgerclops', a wide-eyed reddish-green colliding with a concerned burnt blue. Their unintentional staring contest lasted only a few seconds before another cough seeped out from between Mao Mao's fingers, and the cat squeezed his eyes shut, inadvertently losing the competition. Shortly following the involuntary action, yet another cough jarred Mao Mao's body, this time forcing him to double over and drop his hand from his mouth. 

Then, there was another.

And another. 

And _another._

Badgerclops' heart plummeted into the dark abyss of his stomach, and he couldn't but compare himself to a bystander as he witnessed the start of a worrying scene. 

And, it was _not_ good. 

Mao Mao's form shook and heaved as he descended into a coughing fit, his body nearly curling in on itself. In between each cough, Badgerclops could vainly hear Mao Mao struggling to suck in a breath, although those attempts were foiled each time. The cybernetic badger noted that the sounds the cat produced were extremely harsh and loud - just like how Mao Mao did everything. 

He cringed at that specific thought and, for a moment, Badgerclops found his gaze wandering away from Mao Mao's shuddering form and towards the direction of their shared bedroom. His eye scoured the outline of the doorway leading into their kitchen, almost expecting a small blue head and a pair of round, innocent eyes to suddenly pop around the corner. Thankfully, that never occurred, and he silently thanked his lucky stars that Adorabat was such a heavy sleeper. He didn't know how he would've been able to handle an upset Adorabat and a distressed Mao Mao at the same time. 

Speaking of the feline-

The cybernetic badger shook his head, and he refocused his attention upon Mao Mao. The samurai cat was still in throes of his coughing fit, the involuntary body action giving him little to no opportunity to breathe. Badgerclops frowned at the unsettling sight, and he quickly moved towards Mao Mao. As he approached Mao Mao’s side, Badgerclops extended his hands out towards his caped back, desiring to somehow support the feline. He knew that there was a definite possibility that Mao Mao was going to shrug off his attempts to help - as to be expected of the crazed feline - but it was better to try than sit back and do nothing, right? Badgerclops swiftly made up his mind, and he firmly pressed his palm against Mao Mao’s heaving back.

Two things happened at that moment.

Firstly, Mao Mao didn’t even so much as flinch like Badgerclops anticipated he would. In fact, it didn’t seem that Mao Mao had even registered his touch, too immersed within his coughing fit. Then, the second thing occurred at the exact instant that Badgerclops’ fingertips brushed against Mao Mao’s caped back. 

Mao Mao was _warm._

Whereas Mao Mao had practically been a literal block of ice when Badgerclops had him slung over his shoulder, the feline now felt like a roaring furnace. Heat poured off of him in small waves, warming Badgerclops’ hand even through the thick scarlet fabric of Mao Mao’s cape. The cybernetic badger quickly withdrew his hand and stared at it, investigating the surface of his palm as if he expected there to be some sort of a burn mark. When he, unsurprisingly, found absolutely nothing there, Badgerclops looked back at Mao Mao. The cat's face was angled down towards the wooden floorboards, his expression locked into a permanent grimace as the coughs tore through his body. Badgerclops scrunched his eyebrows together, his mental gears turning softly within his mind. 

Where did all of this even come _from_?

Badgerclops quietly hummed to himself in thought, and he replaced his hand upon Mao Mao’s back. From there, the cybernetic badger reluctantly began to rub several circles along the feline’s spine, his movements awkward and a little hesitant. Even though he knew Mao Mao for a while now, Badgerclops was still unsure of how to properly comfort him. The feline had only permitted it a couple of times throughout their partnership, and even those times were very few and far between. But, Mao Mao didn’t negatively respond to the sensation - not like he could anyway - so Badgerclops could only assume that it was okay for now. As he continued with his hand gestures, Badgerclops snuck a quick peek at Mao Mao's freshly bandaged leg. The wrapped limb was just barely visible underneath the bottom of the cat's signature cape but, from what he could plainly see, the dressings were still a pleasant shade of pristine white. 

Did his wound cause this?

Did it get _infected_?

Badgerclops gulped, the inklings of worry developing into a thick lump in the back of his throat and leaving him with a sour taste in his mouth. 

_No._

The cybernetic badger had a sufficient amount of knowledge on the topic of injuries, and he could confidently say that he was more than capable of dealing with them. (He did _mostly_ fix Mao Mao’s bones after he practically liquefied them during his ridiculous rival with Orangusnake, after all). When Badgerclops had redone Mao Mao's bandages - you know, after the feline was being his usual reckless self - he paid close attention to the current state of the battle wound. The cut had been noticeably swollen, the surrounding skin slowly turning an interesting shade of red. Those were all general signs of irritation (and stupidity), not an infection, however. Then again, hadn't the wound felt a bit _warm,_ too? 

Badgerclops chewed on his bottom lip.

But, that didn't make any sense. Besides, adding the simple fact that Mao Mao had been training outside for-who-knows-how-long to the equation, the feline had acquired the initial injury only a couple of hours ago. Infection couldn't have possibly circulated throughout Mao Mao's system that fast to produce this kind of negative reaction. 

As if knowing Badgerclops was thinking about him, Mao Mao quivered under the cybernetic badger's palm. Badgerclops steadily increased the pressure of his rubbing, tracing longer and harder circles alongside Mao Mao's back and shoulder blades.

So, if this wasn’t from the injury, then what could it -?

_Wait a minute._

Badgerclops abruptly stilled his hand motions, momentarily distracted by several thoughts racing through his mind. 

The lack of appetite.

Sleeping in late.

The abrupt change in attitude.

The constant deflecting.

Several pieces of the impossible jigsaw puzzle that was Mao Mao suddenly clicked into place within Badgerclops' head, and the corners of Badgerclops' lip tilted downwards at the image that began to develop before his eye. Ironically, the said image looked unpleasantly familiar to something that happened a couple of months ago. But, before Badgerclops could even think about trying to confirm his conclusions, he, first, needed to deal with Mao Mao. 

With that in mind, the cybernetic badger slowly lifted his hand from Mao Mao's jerking back, raising the appendage a couple of inches in the air. Badgerclops spread his palm wide and flat before he swiftly smacked his hand _hard_ against the square of Mao Mao's back. The force of the hit practically sent Mao Mao's body lurching forward, a choked gasp breaking through the feline's relentless stream of coughs for only a brief moment. 

"Come on, Mao," Badgerclops encouraged, smacking his palm against Mao Mao again. This time, the heroic cat managed to draw in a single breath before he was drowning in the actions of his body once more. "You gotta breathe at some point." 

It took two more strong thumps along Mao Mao's spine before the cat was even remotely capable of following his advice, the coughs dwindling in strength until Mao Mao was able to regain control of his body. Badgerclops stepped back a bit to give Mao Mao some room to breathe, but he quickly changed tactics when the feline's body wilted, and it appeared that Mao Mao would end up face-planting against the floorboards. Badgerclops reacted quickly, and he pushed his fatigued body to snag Mao Mao firmly around his waist with his metallic arm. The cybernetic badger held the cat against his stomach, supporting some of Mao Mao's body weight. Meanwhile, Mao Mao sagged against Badgerclops' cybernetic arm, his chest heaving as he wheezed. 

That particular moment lasted for close to a minute - not like Badgerclops was counting or anything - with Mao Mao propping himself up against the cybernetic badger, openly panting in exertion. Eventually, Mao Mao managed to scourge up enough energy from deep within his reserves. The feline weakly wiggled like a dying fish in Badgerclops' grasp, mere inches away from elbowing the badger in the stomach. Badgervlops took this as a huge sign that Mao Mao had enough of him coddling him, and he gently relinquished his hold. Mao Mao staggered for a split second once his main support had abruptly disappeared, but he still managed to collapse onto the surface of their couch. There, he turned his back to Badgerclops, and he hunched over, his sharp gloved fingers digging into the sofa's dark pink fabric. Badgerclops said nothing in response to the action, instead he simply stepped back, quietly listening to Mao Mao suck in several _full_ breaths. 

Now that _whatever-that-was_ is over, Badgerclops could officially get down to the bottom of this. 

Many questions buzzed around Badgerclops' mind, but he kept the dominant one locked and loaded on the tip of his tongue, ready to release it out and into the air as soon as Mao Mao managed to catch his breath. Thankfully, that didn't take too long, and Mao Mao's breathing quietened to the point that it was barely audible. 

"Hey, Mao Mao," Badgerclops started, nonchalantly. Mao Mao's black ears perked up - since when were they droopy? - at the sound of his name, but otherwise, he didn't make any other attempt to physically nor verbally acknowledge Badgerclops. The cybernetic badger assumed that it had something to do with the fact that Mao Mao had completely lost his composure in front of him. His pride was probably injured or something weird like that. Either way, Badgerclops didn't care as long as Mao Mao was paying attention to him and heard what he had to say. "Are you-?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter! As usual, I left it on a cliffhanger! Unfortunately, I won't update this particular for a little bit, mostly because of school and "other projects." *Wink Wink*
> 
> Anyway, see ya'll later. Oh, and don't worry, there's still more angst to come. Bye!


	5. Are you-?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m not going to leave you alone until you tell me~” Badgerclops pressed, leaning ever closer. 
> 
> Mao Mao twisted his head to the side, trying and failing to ignore the cybernetic badger. Badgerclops took that as a reason to creep even closer, and he could feel Mao Mao tensing up in response. 
> 
> “Mao-” 
> 
> “... days,” Mao Mao murmured. It was the quietest that Badgerclops could recall Mao Mao speaking. 
> 
> “What?” He inquired. 
> 
> Mao Mao sighed, annoyed. “3 days,” he finally said, his voice low. 
> 
> Badgerclops was glad Mao Mao couldn’t see his jaw almost hit the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been so long! School has literally been kicking my butt. Thank goodness for Christmas break! Anyway, I should also apologize for the shorter chapter. Either way, I hope you guys enjoy and leave behind your thoughts on the chapter!

“Mao Mao?” Badgerclops began, quietly. “Are you... sick?” 

The question felt stupid rolling off the edge of Badgerclops’ tongue and, for a second, he considered forgoing the mention of it. Surely, it would’ve been a whole lot more obvious if Mao Mao had been sick. That is until he registered the fact that Mao Mao’s body immediately tensed the instance in which the inquiry left Badgerclops’ mouth, the feline’s green eyes flickering to the floor, and back to Badgerclops’ face. Stiffly, as if the cat was forcing himself to, Mao Mao gave him a crooked smile. 

“What?” Mao Mao squawked, offensively, waving off Badgerclops’ suggestion. “Of course not.” 

Badgerclops gave him a blank look, his face slipping into a deadpan. Even someone who didn’t even know Mao Mao well enough could’ve easily been able to tell that the feline was lying through his teeth. 

“Mao, come on,” Badgerclops continued. “I know something’s up with you.” 

This time, Mao Mao flinched, as if Badgerclops had slapped him, and he pressed his lips into a thin line. The expression distinctly reminded Badgerclops of Adorabat. It was the same look the young bat would make whenever she obviously did something wrong and refused to tell anyone what exactly it was that she did. 

“There’s nothing ‘up’ with me, Badgerclops.” Mao Mao muttered, darkly. His tone suggested that he was starting to get fed-up with the topic of their conversation. “I’m just-” 

“You’re just – what?” Badgerclops inquired, raising a brow. 

Unsurprisingly, Mao Mao didn’t reply. Instead, he looked away, and he crossed his trembling arms close to his chest. 

Badgerclops scowled at this development because, honestly, what should he have expected from Mao Mao? They were in their current position because the cat wanted to be stubborn and ignore the needs of his body. Then, an idea formed within his mind, and Badgerclops wasted no time pulling the still opened first aid kit into his lap. As he fished through its contents, he could feel Mao Mao’s curious stare burning into his side, the feline craning his neck to try and see what he was up to. After a few seconds of fruitlessly searching in the dim light, Badgerclops eventually found what he was looking for, and he plucked it out. 

It was a thermometer.

It was a small blue-and-white plastic stick with two buttons on the side, and it just so happened to be the thing that Badgerclops needed. 

He turned back around to address Mao Mao, and he was unsurprised to see the cat’s green eyes narrow once they landed upon the thermometer. “Seriously?” Mao Mao asked, his voice still raspy from his coughing fit. 

“Seriously, man,” Badgerclops echoed, sarcastically, using the device to point at the feline. “Now, open your mouth.” 

Mao Mao did the exact opposite of his demand. 

Mao Mao pressed himself against the cushions of the couch, backing away from the cybernetic badger as if he held a sharp knife. If that wasn’t enough, Mao Mao closed his mouth, and he clenched his jaw. 

Badgerclops rolled his eye, and he brought the stick closer to the retreating cat. “Look, Mao. If you’re not sick like you say, then you have nothing to fear by using this.” 

Mao Mao sat there for a moment, silently digesting Badgerclops’ words. Then, he reluctantly held his hand out. When Badgerclops rose a confused brow, Mao Mao huffed. “I’m capable of doing it myself,” he stated. 

Badgerclops frowned, but, nevertheless, he complied. Mao Mao wasn’t completely resisting him, so he didn’t really have a reason to deny him. He plopped the thermometer in Mao Mao’s awaiting gloved hand, eying the feline for any sort of suspicious activity. Slowly, Mao Mao opened his mouth, and he placed the device underneath his tongue. Once it became obvious that the feline wasn’t going to spit out the thermometer, Badgerclops sat back and waited for the result. 

Not that he didn’t already have an idea.

After about a minute, the thermometer beeped, the shrill noise slicing through the silence of the room and startling both of them. Specifically, Mao Mao who seemed as if he’d drifted off for a bit. Badgerclops took advantage of that fact, and he snatched the device out of Mao Mao’s mouth. Mao Mao glared at him for it, but he ignored it in favor of studying the screen of the thermometer. The screen glowed a pleasant shade of blue as Badgerclops stared at the numbers. 

He winced. “Wow, Mao. I guess you’re not sick,” he shoved the thermometer in Mao Mao’s face. “Because healthy people totally run a temperature of 102.” 

Mao Mao squinted at the screen – the bright light probably burning his eyes – before he promptly snatched the thermometer from Badgerclops’ hand. Badgerclops watched, unimpressed, as Mao Mao tossed it back into the first aid kit. 

“Come on, Mao. Your secret’s already out,” Mao Mao ignored him. “Just talk to me, okay? The quicker we have this conversation, the quicker the  _ both  _ of us can go to bed.” 

He made a point to put emphasis on the last part of his sentence. Mao Mao didn’t seem to notice, nor did he reply, but Badgerclops assumed that he agreed, and he continued their somewhat one-sided conversation. “Can you at least tell me how long you’ve been sick? Because I think we both know that it didn’t suddenly start today.” 

Mao Mao looked up at Badgerclops – this close, the cybernetic badger was able to tell how haggard the cat appeared – but he didn’t say a word. The fact that Mao Mao – the guy who always seemed to be talking – refused to say anything, unnerved Badgerclops. 

“Come on, Mao Mao~,” Badgerclops sang, smiling knowingly. “Tell me.” 

Mao Mao scowled at him. 

They used this exact tactic on Adorabat whenever she refused to tell them something. The idea was to lean against Adorabat until they were practically squishing her. The action always proved victorious in causing her to lose her resolve. And, since it usually worked on her, why would it not now? 

“I’m not going to leave you alone until you tell me~” Badgerclops pressed, leaning ever closer. 

Mao Mao twisted his head to the side, trying and failing to ignore the cybernetic badger. Badgerclops took that as a reason to creep even closer, and he could feel Mao Mao tensing up in response. 

“ _ Mao _ -” 

“... days,” Mao Mao murmured. It was the quietest that Badgerclops could recall Mao Mao speaking. 

“What?” He inquired. 

Mao Mao sighed, annoyed. “3 days,” he finally said, his voice low. 

Badgerclops was glad Mao Mao couldn’t see his jaw almost hit the ground. 

_ 3  _ days?

Mao Mao had been ill for 3 whole days, and Badgerclops just noticed it now? He usually prided himself on being one of the few people that could read and deal with Mao Mao. The cat has a track record of not letting a lot of people in, and it took a couple of years for Mao Mao to fully trust him enough to tell him some of his insecurities. So, how come he didn’t see it until now? 

Maybe, it was because Mao Mao wasn’t usually this good at hiding it. 

Mao Mao was a notoriously bad liar; that was just a basic fact. Whether it had to with him being raised in a heroic family, or Badgerclops rolling with a group of lying thieves for an extended period, he didn’t know. Either way, Badgerclops could always tell when Mao Mao was lying about something. Heck, the last time Mao Mao was sick, the cat spent the entire day hacking. But, this time, there was none of that. And, it made Badgerclops upset to think that he was oblivious to it. 

What if he noticed it sooner? Could he have prevented Mao Mao from nearly getting his  _ leg torn off-? _

He immediately derailed that thought.

“Why didn’t tell me?” Badgerclops asked, instead. “I mean, you know, that I got your back and everything, right?”

Mao Mao scowled. “I’m not obligated to tell you how I feel.” 

“Uh,” Badgerclops stared at Mao Mao, incredulously. “It’s called being  _ friends _ . You tell your friends that you’re sick, and they help you.” 

Mao Mao pursed his lips.

Badgerclops took that as his cue to continue. “You felt sick during the fight earlier, didn’t you?” Mao Mao didn’t answer. “You do realize all of this could have been avoided if you told me that you were sick. I mean, we’ve been friends for a while now, and I like to think that we can trust each other.” 

Mao Mao blinked up at him, brows furrowed. “I do trust you.”

“Then, why not tell me?” Badgerclops leaned against the back of the couch. “Instead, you wear yourself down and nearly get killed in an easy fight. And, I bet if I hadn’t woken up and caught you outside, you wouldn’t have even told me you were sick. Am I right?”

Mao Mao opened his mouth - as if he was about to object to Badgerclops’ statement - and closed it just as quickly, an almost sheepish look on his face.

Badgerclops sighed. “That doesn’t sound like trust to me.” 

The truth be told, Badgerclops wasn’t too upset by Mao Mao’s lack of trust in him. From what he heard about the cat’s partnership between Bao Bao and Tanya, things never ended well. Bao Bao left Mao Mao alone in a painful situation, and Tanya left because she and Mao Mao didn’t see eye-to-eye. Maybe, Mao Mao thought Badgerclops would be the same; suddenly outgrow him and leave him behind when he needs someone the most. 

“It’s not-'' Mao Mao cleared his throat. “It’s not like that, Badgerclops.”

Badgerclops’ eye fell upon the stained bandages lying dejectedly on the wooden floorboards. “Then, tell me what’s up with you, dude. And, I swear I won’t judge you for it.”

Mao Mao’s only response was to hunch in on himself, his signature cape hugging his frame. Badgerclops thought it made him look smaller than he already was.

“Mao Mao-”

“I couldn’t tell you guys.”

Badgerclops crossed his arms. “Couldn’t, or didn’t want to?” 

Mao Mao sighed, clenching his fists in his lap. “You don’t understand, Badgerclops.”

The cybernetic badger rose a hand, contemplating whether he should lay it on Mao Mao’s shaking shoulder before he thought better of it. “Then, help me understand, man.”

Mao Mao bit his bottom lip, and he breathed in through his nose as if he’d been steeling himself to do something big. Badgerclops sat back and waited for him to speak. At times like these, he knew it was better to let Mao Mao speak on his own terms.

“I-I can’t be sick,” Mao Mao stuttered out in a matter-of-fact tone. He said it like it was some sort of common knowledge that Badgerclops should’ve already known. “I just can’t be.”

This conversation felt like it was going in a familiar direction.

“Dude,” Badgerclops began. “Didn’t we already have this exact conversation?”

Mao Mao had caught a nasty cold just a few short months ago. Even then, he’d demanded the entire day that he hadn’t been sick, and all that did was worsen his cold. Eventually, it had gotten to the point that Mao Mao was one swing of his sword away from killing himself. After the battle with the ice dragon, Badgerclops and Adorabat just barely got the feline to take a break. Yet, it now seemed all that convincing had come undone. The question is:  _ why _ ? 

_ Actually- _

Now that Badgerclops really thought about it, they never really did talk about it. Yes, he and Adorabat did get Mao Mao to slow down and take a break but, beyond that, they never really got the cat to agree with them. Mao Mao rested alongside them, and the moment that he felt better, he was back to protecting the valley. The conversation that should’ve taken place never did. It was one thing to tell Mao Mao that it was okay to be sick, but it was a completely different thing to making sure that the feline understood the implications behind it. 

“That was different,” Mao Mao stated, hotly.

Badgerclops rose a brow. “ _ So _ ? Adorabat and I told you it was okay to be sick, Mao. And, we meant it.”

“It’s not that simple,” Mao Mao hissed. It was obvious that he was getting increasingly aggravated with their topic of choice again. 

“And, why not?”

“ _ Because _ , Badgerclops, a hero can’t-'' Mao Mao’s breath hitched for a second, and Badgerclops feared that he would break out into another coughing fit. The reason for the cat’s sudden breathlessness during the battle earlier suddenly made a lot of sense. Somehow, Mao Mao managed to swallow the urge, and he continued like nothing happened. “Can’t be sick. They just  _ can’t _ .” 

Badgerclops leaned forward. “Because… ?”

“ _ Because _ they’ll be weak,” Mao Mao said, hoarsely, staring at Badgerclops. “And, I can't be weak.”

Badgerclops’ eye widened. That particular sentence triggered a dominant memory in the back of his mind.

Mao Mao had said the same thing all those months ago. Badgerclops hadn’t taken the statement seriously at the time - how could he with the way Mao Mao was stumbling all over the place in a fevered haze. But now, sitting here staring at Mao Mao’s bloody bandages and feeling the heat pouring off the cat, Badgerclops knew Mao Mao really meant it.

He knew from experience that Mao Mao absolutely disliked sitting on the sidelines. The feline fancied being in the middle of all the action, leading the charge - not watching it from afar. Badgerclops assumed it made him feel useless; like he was just some broken toy no one wanted to play with. So, in Mao Mao’s weird little mind, he thought that by hiding his illness, he would somehow avoid that scenario altogether. Although, that still didn’t explain why Mao Mao felt that way. 

“Dude,” Badgerclops started, carefully. “Where is all of this coming from?”

Mao Mao scrunched up his nose. It was hard to tell whether he didn’t understand what Badgerclops just said to him, or how to reply to him.

“Hey, man-”

“It’s, uh,” Mao Mao grumbled. “My family.” 

If this was several years ago - back when he first met Mao Mao - Badgerclops might’ve been a little perplexed by that statement. Now, he gestured for Mao Mao to finish his thought.

Mao Mao licked his lips. “For a while now, it’s been an unspoken rule that no one is allowed to get sick. Not my dad;not my sisters; and not  _ me.  _ The only one exempt from that rule is-” he looked down at his gloved hands. “My mom.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, wonder what's going on with Mao Mao's mom? Hopefully, it's nothing too bad~
> 
> Anyway, that's all for now! See you guys later!

**Author's Note:**

> Kind of left you guys off on a cliffhanger. Sorry, not sorry! I hope you guys enjoyed it, though.


End file.
